Lineage
by funk-tastic
Summary: An ancient dog god waits in the mountains with her visions of the past, present, and future: the Inu no Taisho's rise and fall, the young woman who would become the ruler of the Crescent Moon Clan, and the role that their son Sesshomaru would be fated by destiny to fulfill.
1. Prologue - The Inuyokai's Birth

_(AN: HI EVERYONE! I'm back and I'm here with more long-winded fanfiction about dog demons._

 _If anyone has read my old fic Otoko no Yurei, some of this will be familiar, but most of it will not. I felt like there was a lot more story to tell than a 13k oneshot could really contain, and so I set out to write down a more cohesive and complete story. This isn't just about the Inu no Taisho... it's also about the history of dog demons, Sessmom, Sesshomaru's childhood, and ultimately will end up hinting at our boy Sesshomaru's destiny post canon (or... the way I'd write it, anyway). A lot of it, including the character Uzume and innumerable other details, were the brain child of my girlfriend -who goes by gobodosama on tumblr- and the conversations we've had about the Dog Family... so a HUGE shoutout to her for inspiring like 99% of this!_

 _There's also gonna be blood, swearing, and some heavily implied sex so I have rated it **M** but if that doesn't seem right let me know. __Here we go!)_

* * *

 **Prologue - The Inuyokai's Birth**

In the very beginning, dogs were free.

They roamed the forests and countrysides as they saw fit and did not concern themselves with anything besides their own well-being. It was rough and dangerous at times, but it was ultimately a good way to live - they were content among themselves. At some point in history, maybe so far back it could not be recorded, the first human and the first dog met each other and realized that together they could do great things.

Dogs became allies to the human race. There were many rewards; food, shelter, companionship, love, which they repaid with loyalty and hard work. Between the two species there was a kind of easy affection and deep love - humans mourned their lost dogs like they'd lost their own children and siblings and spouses. Dogs would stand vigil over sick humans, and wait for their chance to join them in the netherworld when they died.

But of course, where there is kindness, there is also cruelty.

Humans began to wonder if their companions could do more for them, if they could make them into more powerful servants or tools of their will. It's impossible to say where they got the idea from, just as it's impossible to know how they decided to make fires or create artwork. Perhaps it was divine intervention.

The first person took the first dog and buried him up to his head, his own loyal and loving hunting hound, and left him to starve. When it resulted only in death he got a better idea - why not torture the beast, so that in its fear it would beg for the gods' help? Another dog was taken, this time an old female who had lived the better part of a decade and a half, and she too was buried. Around her, her master laid fresh, juicy cuts of meat and bowls of clear spring water just out of her reach.

She was blinded by panic after three days. After five, she had prayed to every god in heaven and hell to spare her. After seven, she died - sightless and foaming at the mouth, her weary brain filled with confusion and fear. Her master thought that perhaps he had failed again, but when he moved her body to lay it to proper rest, the corpse spoke to him.

"My master," she said in a slow, deep voice. "Do you still have need of me?"

"Yes!" he cried, heart hammering in his chest. "My family will always have need of you!"

"What is my name, master?"

The man tapped his chin, thinking of a suitable name for her, before he smiled a broad grin.

"Uzume," he said, "we will call you Uzume. You are a part of our family now as you always have been, and we will all love you as we did before."

And so the first inugami was made.

o0o

With Uzume's success, many others were made as well - different families got the same idea and all wanted their own godly servants. The wild dogs, who had been friendly and eager before, saw this and became wilder and more feral for fear that they might be captured and put to death, too.

At first, humans used their inugami for simple things like watching children, cooking, and cleaning. But conflict had begun to spring up all around them; farmers quickly turned into soldiers, neighbors into spies, and priests into assassins. All at once it seemed that the inugami's true talents weren't being used to their full advantage. One owner sent his out to kill an old rival who owed him rice as payment, and when the inugami returned with his head between its jaws, the potential of these god-dogs became abundantly clear.

Why risk their own lives when they had perfectly good servants to do the work for them? Suddenly every household seemed to be swarming with them, until inugami almost outnumbered people. They did not die; they were already undead. They did not waver, and they never missed their marks. They were the perfect creation, a blend of nature, man, and the divine.

But all creatures have flaws. An overzealous owner might abuse their power and work their inugami to the breaking point, until they were swelling with pent up rage. These ones were the most merciless of all, not just killing their masters' foes but possessing them, ripping them from the inside out until all that remained was a torn up body, covered in jagged claw marks. Some even had signatures - the more vicious of them adopted a nasty habit of marring their victims' faces so that pieces were carved out of their cheeks and foreheads in deliberate patterns. Some markings became recognizable, and the anonymity of the killer was lost when people could trace the work back to an owner and exact revenge.

One such owner made this very mistake, after years of working her inugami to its limits.

"Why have you marked him?" she cried in despair, taking up a switch from a young sapling into her hand. "The whole family will be after us for revenge!"

"I do as you ask, master," the inugami replied, unflinching even as it endured lash after lash across its muzzle.

"You carved a crescent moon into their foreheads!" she shrieked, increasing the force of her blows. "Our family's crest!"

When the last blow landed, she stilled her hand, watching the dogs eyes for signs of remorse. There was nothing in them - they were hollow and void, sunken, black. She feared for a moment that she had someone managed to kill the unkillable beast, but it spoke to her:

" _My_ family's crest."

There was only a moment of confusion before the dog lunged madly, snapping its powerful jaws and dripping with saliva. Her head was ripped clear from her body in an instant, but the dog-god was unsatisfied with her death alone and soon tracked down the whole household.

Every man, woman, and child was killed, but its anger was unsated. It waited until nightfall for the last of the family to return, knowing that it wouldn't rest until they had all died and its soul could be free from them. Finally, only one person remained; a young woman who was just about marrying age, the youngest daughter in the family. The inugami delighted in her fear, the scent of her sweat and her terror, reminded on a primal level how it had felt to be buried up to the neck and starved to madness. It would not be fitting simply to kill her, but instead take revenge for the cruelty it had endured.

It possessed her bodily, tearing her flesh with her own fingernails and teeth. It dragged grooves into her arms, across her wrists. It attempted to claw her eyes out but missed and dug bleeding, red ribbons across her cheeks. Her soul pleaded with the dog-god, weakened by pain and fear, for one last act of forgiveness and loyalty to her family.

The inugami carved a crescent moon into her forehead - but as the girl's spirit fought, the dog-god could not keep a steady hand and so it only formed a moon shaped bruise instead of a cut. At last, the girl had given up, her soul lost to the netherworld, and the inugami contemplated its next move.

The gods must have heard the girl's plea. As they had done before with the first buried dog's frightened spirit, they'd transformed her body into one that was not quite dead and not quite alive. The inugami tried to leave, but found that it was _trapped_ inside of her. It scrambled about on unsteady human limbs, running out of the house and to a nearby creek to peer over into the reflection.

The girl had been changed into something new. Her face was no longer bleeding, but the red stripes and blue-purple moon remained, despite the inugami's best efforts to wipe it clean. Her eyes, ears, and hair had been touched by a god's hand.

 _White hair,_ said a divine voice in the back of the girl's brain, _to remind you of your immortality._

 _Gold eyes,_ it went on, _as the payment your masters gave you and each other for your duties._

 _Sharpened ears,_ it finally finished, _that you may hear our voices. This is your punishment and your gift._

The inugami wept itself sick by the water's edge, until it had forgotten everything - even its own name.

o0o

It soon became clear that even an inugami created from a well loved family pet could eventually be passed on to a descendent who treated it poorly. Most inugami went mad eventually, killing whole families to release themselves from servitude. Many of them killed every single member of the household and then took their own lives out of grief. But some did not. A small number inhabited the body of the last living member, and marked it with their crest.

People grew afraid of them. They stopped making dog servants out of terror, and the ones who remained were either destroyed or treated with great care and worshipped to prevent madness from striking.

The freed inugami roamed the countryside, wandering aimlessly for nearly a century - until two, taking advantage of their human forms, decided to stay together and have children.

The resulting children were not inugami at all - they were freer, unburdened by a past with humans, like their wild relatives. They had human forms like their parents, but could change with enough force into large, beautiful dogs. They had sound minds and radiated a beautiful, delicious energy from their bodies.

The humans called them _inuyokai_. They were not gods at all, but demons.

Many of these god and demon families lived together quite happily, but an unseen curve in the creation of an inugami threatened them. Their memories had been taken away in exchange for their freedom, and it was better that way - the torture and bloodshed they had endured would be enough to drive even the strongest spirit to destruction. As long as they could not remember, they were safe. They selected new names for themselves and ignored anything that felt like it might remind them of who they used to be, but all it took was hearing their given names from the lips of another, and they would slip back into endless rage. Unlike the first carnage, the one that had set them free, this one would not end until the inugami itself was killed.

Some foresaw it. When they felt their minds slipping they cloistered themselves away from their families and waited until they ripped themselves to shreds. Others were put down by their own children. Some, the most unlucky, lost everything.

Over time, the old dog-gods were replaced by dog demons. Their societies began to grow and change, mirroring human societies and family clans, together and apart from people all at once. Inugami became scarcer and scarcer - only a few were still being made, and the ones who had not gone mad made a point of staying far, far away from inuyokai. Eventually inugami were like pariahs to their own children and descendants. They had no reason to exist, they had no demonic power, and they could not take their true forms as powerful beasts. They almost died out completely.

Those that remained moved to mountains and lived in caves, or stayed in quiet, secluded sections of the forests. It was an unspoken rule that though they were old and wise, they were dangerous and not to be spoken of or to. The inugami turned into a bedtime story to frighten young pups into behaving.

There were fewer than a dozen left by the era the humans called _Heian_ , and of them was Uzume, the first inugami ever conceived by human hands. She waited alone in the mountains, praying and meditating on her own inevitable descent into darkness and death. For a final time the gods heard her plea for clarity, and kissed her sightless eyes so that she could perceive beyond the physical world and into the future.

And there she would wait for centuries, knowing all and seeing nothing.

* * *

 _(edit as of 10/8/2017: I've got about 4 chapters in total already written for this - with more definitely to come - waiting to be tweaked and edited before I post them... so if you have opinions or suggestions I would love to hear them. I do take those things into consideration when I write, because often times other people can point out little gaps, errors, and weak spots in my writing far better than I can. Thanks for reading!_ _)_


	2. Chapter 1 - Boyhood

**Chapter 1 - Boyhood**

It seemed natural for dog demons to avoid humans as much as possible - they resented the fact that their ancestors had once been disposable servants to the human race, and even hostility against humans was seen as unnecessarily primal and dirty. Apathy was the only appropriate emotion to display in regards to them.

And yet, there actually was a great deal about inuyokai society that reflected and mimicked human society. They had their hierarchies, their classes and castes, and their prejudices. At the very top were the oldest dog demon families - they were pure blooded by their own description, having gone generations and generations without marrying and mating any inugami. In the middle were those who were second and third generation demons, whose grandparents had been inugami but were either dead or had gone into seclusion. And at the very bottom were inuyokai who were children of inugami, only marginally higher than the inugami themselves.

And, of course, it went without saying that marrying an inugami was a quick path to social death and isolation.

Lady Yasuko of the Inazuma clan was a member of the highest class. Her family had earned its name from the lightning-like bruises that their inugami had given its host body, but that had been many centuries ago. Yasuko was the niece of the ruling lord, much loved and very willful. She, like her sisters and cousins, was a powerful warrior and a clever tactician and had left behind her a wake of bloody battles and impressive victories.

But she was not made of steel. One campaign on her uncle's behalf led her deep into the northern mountains, where she became isolated from her group during a snowstorm. She took shelter in a cave, but very soon found that she was not alone.

Her companion had no demonic aura, and kept himself huddled away from her, his eyes watching her face carefully for movement.

"Who are you?" she asked after a long silence. "What are you called?"

"I have no name," he said with a voice roughened from disuse.

Yasuko knew at once that she was facing an inugami, a creature she had been taught to regard as dangerous and impure, but he was nothing like the stories of her childhood. She was almost instantly fond of his pleasant, gentle face and his deep, soft voice; besides, the snow continued to bluster outside of the warmth of the cave and it wouldn't be safe to leave. One more day, surely, would not do any harm.

One day became another, and then another, until a month had passed and she had still not left his side. Finally he went from having no name to being known to her as "dearest", and it was that simple. She could never return now and she knew it.

"There's no point in getting married," she told him lazily as summer began to roll over the mountains. "Nobody would recognize the union, anyway."

"No," her inugami lover replied, but he took her hand into his and sighed. "I will have to find you a better place to raise our child than this cave, all the same."

Yasuko smiled, and placed a hand over her belly protectively, where she was just beginning to round out from pregnancy.

By fall he had found a home for them, the abandoned mansion of a fallen human lord, and they filled it slowly but surely. They paid their kitsune, tanuki, and monkey servants in rice and meat and sweets. They laid down woven blankets for bedding and carved bowls from trees they'd cut themselves.

When the child was ready to be born it was a proper mansion at last, the wooden floors gleaming and the halls open and fresh.

Yasuko gave birth to a son.

He was loud and spilling over with yoki, his cheeks red and laid over with his mother's markings - the lightning bruises of the Inazuma. His inugami father wasn't able to sense the child's incredible demonic aura, but he could sense more than that; somehow, their child would be a great leader. His mother and father named him Togao, a mishmash of old characters from the mainland and newer ones of the island, a name which meant _king fang._

"An important name for such a small creature," Yasuko remarked, stroking his cheek gently as he nursed. "How can we possibly know what's in store for you, little one?"

"Certainly, it isn't wrong to hope," the inugami chuckled, and then he sighed. "I feel it in the depths of me, my love."

Yasuko knew that he must have meant it - inugami were supposed to be more intuitive than inuyokai, but besides that her lover had never been wrong before. His predictions were always on the mark.

The parents smiled at each other, and prayed for their son's good health and happiness.

o0o

Togao grew fast and learned faster. It seemed as though he instinctively knew what lay ahead, the kinds of trials his life would be filled with. He ran before he could walk, talked with a voice full of conviction before he even understood the words he was using. His parents, of course, were delighted in this.

The servants often struggled to keep up with the boy's precocious and bold nature - but he was charming and empathetic even from an early age, and he liked even the lowest ranking of them. It pleased Yasuko to see her son pull away from the traditional inuyokai aloofness; it could serve him well to be so open and so willing to befriend people, despite their differences.

Once Togao was old enough, his father sat him down and began teaching him to read and write. Togao didn't seem to have much patience for classic mainland writings, nor did he enjoy trying to copy characters - but he was taken with his father's story telling.

"Did you know how me and your mother were created?"

"How was that?"

"People made us."

Yasuko thought it was perhaps a little blasphemous for him to teach their son such things - every dog demon child had heard the story of the first inugami, at some point, but very few children were ever led to like humans. Togao's father spoke of them kindly and respectfully, as though it had slipped his mind that for his own freedom he'd been forced to kill his masters.

She wanted to ask, but she was afraid he would remember too much and be lost to her. Either way, it did Togao no harm.

When he grew older, Yasuko began to train him in the way of the sword. She had always been a clever and skilled warrior, and teaching him how to become one filled her with unbridled joy. His first few lessons were clumsy - he'd nearly ditched the sword, trying to tackle her into the dirt and play-fight with his claws and teeth - but she persisted and soon enough he could hold his own against her. Her child was on the cusp of adolescence, nearly ready for the turning point which would set him down the path of a true yokai.

"Haha-ue!" he screeched down a hallway one misty morning in late summer, scrambling to find his mother and nearly knocking over a few weasel demons in the process. "Haha-ue, something is wrong with me!"

"What might that be?" she said calmly as he stumbled into his parents shared study, where she was restringing an old shamisen.

"My chest feels like it's going to burst," he panted, looking clearly disturbed. "It's starting to hurt."

"That's normal," Yasuko replied, not looking up from her instrument.

"What is it?"

"Yoki," she said, and then was quiet for a moment before standing up. "Come with me, child. There's something I'd like to show you."

Togao followed her dutifully, winding the halls with her on their way to the back gardens. Yasuko only stopped for a moment to call his father to follow them too, which he did unquestioningly.

"It's time," she said to him, purposefully mysterious.

"Ah, I shall like to see this."

Togao thought they were speaking in a different language, but said nothing. They weren't in the habit of keeping secrets from him anyway, so he was sure he'd find out soon enough.

"A beautiful day in the mountains," Yasuko sighed happily as the trio overlooked the back walls. The mansion hung over an outcropping, surrounded at its rear end by sheer drops, and there was a valley and a river far below it. "Today is a good day to take your true form."

"My true form?"

"Your first rite of passage," she explained. "Among inuyokai, it symbolizes the beginning of our journey to adulthood. All of us have two forms - the human one which we take to communicate and live with each other, to conserve our energy and our power… and the true form, which is our greatest and most powerful expression of yoki. Does that make sense?"

"Barely," Togao laughed, shrugging.

"I'll show you what I mean," she said softly, nodding to her husband and stepping away from the two of them. She leapt to the top of the garden wall, nimble and fast, and stood facing the valley. She took a deep breath, and Togao felt a shudder rip up his spine as she jumped, clear off the back wall.

"Haha-ue!" he shouted after her, panicking at the long fall below. His father held his shoulder, nodding his head for him to wait and see - and in a moment he understood why.

When his mother reappeared her human body was gone, replaced by a beautiful, pure white dog. She was huge - taller than their mansion, her chest almost large enough to fit a whole room inside. She seemed to hover in the air and Togao tried to take her in: flames of light shooting from her wrists and ankles, a long pelt of white fur down her back, just like the one she wore as a human. Her eyes were bright red and her ears alert, but despite the changes Togao could see it was clearly her. The markings of her cheeks were still in place.

"Incredible!" he breathed, and with a blinding wind of mist and power she returned to her smaller, humanlike body, still hovering in the air above him.

"You must try it now," she told him. "I want you to jump off the back and transform midair. You can't fly yet, but the power to will be unlocked once you have changed for the first time. Don't worry about falling, I'll catch you if you can't do it."

Togao nodded, sparing a backwards glance at him father, who only grinned at him and nudged him forward. He climbed up the wall and stood, facing the drop with some trepidation - but he knew his mother would never allow him to plummet.

"Good. Now focus your energy. Feel the beat of it in your veins," she instructed. "It collects in your chest. The more you feel for it, the stronger it will grow. You might feel like you will burst, but that's what it's supposed to feel like. When I say so, jump and let your mind go blank except for the sensation of falling. Your yoki will do the rest."

"Yes, haha-ue."

"Breathe… and jump!"

Togao took a flying leap, feeling the wind flying through his hair and his skin, before inexplicably a rush came over him and he felt like he needed to scream. He opened his mouth to release it - and was startled when an earth shattering roar pulled out of his throat and chest. It rebounded off the mountain sides and through the valley, ringing in his ears like nothing ever had before. He felt power in every inch of his body, shuddering through him, ripping him open. It was not painful but instead rewarding, and when he opened his eyes he saw why.

He'd done it. His mother was tiny before him, and all around him was white fur and demonic energy. He howled with joy and took long, flying leaps around her, his massive tail wagging at a mile a minute.

Below them, his father looked up in awe.

o0o

Not long after Togao's first transformation, he began to change. The gangliness of his limbs filled out, his chubby cheeks began to thin, and he shot up like a weed, towering over his mother. As soon as he had mastered the ability to transform at will, his mother told him to change and trust her.

He was surprised - and rather displeased - when she leapt up onto his large, fluffy back, and shore off a chunk of fur. As soon as he'd taken his smaller form, he opened his mouth to ask her why she'd done it, but she held up her hand to stop him.

The fur held together on its own, as though it were connected by skin - but she hadn't injured him. It was simply yoki that kept it together, and he noticed that in her hands it had clumped to form something like a pelt. She reached over and draped it about him shoulders, where it stayed firmly.

"You are really an inuyokai now," she said proudly, watching him adjust to its weight against his back. This was one of the many milestones he had to pass before reaching adulthood, and every day it grew closer.

It was around that time when his mother gave birth to a second child.

It was a daughter - and she was beautiful, her hair brilliant white and her eyes already clear and pale gold despite being newly born. Yasuko wondered what such unusual features could possibly mean, but her lover knew instantly, his intuition striking the moment he saw his child.

"She's a seer," he announced, to everyone's surprise. "She has the eyes of one."

"How do you know that, chichi-ue?" Togao asked, peering down curiously at his infant sister.

"Among the inugami, it is not uncommon. She's an inugami's child, so of course it's possible that the gift was passed on to her… it isn't completely unheard of. I can tell that she will have the gift."

"She has to wean first," Yasuko laughed, holding the child close to her chest. "But after that we will see."

They named her Amaterasu, after the heavenly goddess. Togao wondered if that might be considered sacrilegious - but his father told him that if he was a god, then a god's name for his child would not be an insult. Perhaps it was even a way of thanking them for blessing her with the ability to see the future.

Amaterasu grew quickly, as children do. She was immensely clever, smarter than Togao by a long shot, and she used it to her advantage to dupe him and bend him to her whims. But even then he adored her; she was never unkind and always played with him out of love and fun, and her trickery was never malicious. In turn, Togao was stronger than her and he took to hoisting her up over his shoulders and carrying her about like a sack of rice.

The sound of her childish giggling resounded in the halls every day. She was bright and sweet, her eyes as light as the sun. She would watch her brother change and fly about with awe and admiration on her face, smiling and laughing when he ducked about on his front legs and wiggled his tail goofishly.

She was into her late childhood before she had her first vision. It was small and simple - she could picture the mountain weather becoming unusually foul in early fall, a storm hitting so that the valley below was obliterated by snow and ice. And she had been correct; when it came to pass her gift was confirmed.

There was only one problem with her gift: the visions were half-formed and hazy, and no matter how she tried to clear them they only came in fuzzy pieces.

"You will need instruction," their father finally explained one day. "It isn't something your mother or I can teach you."

"Where will I go?" she asked.

"To see Uzume."

Yasuko appeared nervous at the sound of it, prompting Amaterasu to lift her eyebrows and cock her head.

"She is an old inugami. In fact, she may be the oldest one alive - she has the gift of sight, and she's been acting as a prophet for centuries," he said, folding his hands together. "Many dog demons have sought her help and guidance before. I have seen her with my own two eyes, and she is a kind and wise woman… I believe she will be willing to help you."

"Will I have to go seek her out?"

"Of course, but not alone. Togao will go with you."

It was settled. To control her gift, Amaterasu was to go seek the seer in the high mountains, even further north, and ask for instruction. Togao was looking forward to the chance to leave the mansion and travel without his parents for the first time, but Amaterasu was nervous.

"What if something bad happens to us?" she whispered as the two sat out on the back wall, overlooking a sunset. "I can't help but feel like this trip will end poorly."

"It's no use worrying," Togao replied lightly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She nearly disappeared into his side, she was so small against him. "I'll look after you. I won't let anything hurt you."

She snuggled deeper into him, wrapping her thin arms around his waist and closing her eyes. He could feel the anxiety pouring off of her in waves, could hear her heart fluttering in her chest like a caged bird.

"I hope you never have to leave me," she told him. "I wish we could stay close forever."

"Hey," he replied gently, squeezing her shoulders. "I'm not going to disappear or anything. We have plenty of time left together."

"You and I both know what this journey means, Togao," Amaterasu said, her voice conveying a wisdom that was far beyond her years. "When we come back, nothing will be the same. Mother and father both know that it'll be a test of strength for you, and a test of will for me. After this, we don't get to be children anymore."

"There's no need to sound grim," he replied, trying to stay lighthearted. "They've never pushed us into danger, have they? If we weren't ready, they wouldn't send us."

"I suppose," she sighed, but he heard a tremor in her voice. "It's just that one part of me feels like… I want to go ahead, but another part of me wants to stay behind. I can't decide which part is right."

"That's what growing up feels like. It's frightening, but you'll be okay in the end."

She said nothing else, just hugged him and shut the world out for the rest of the night.

In the morning, as they prepared to leave, their father instructed them.

"Search to the north for a cave that faces away from the valley. You'll know it's the right one by the way that the pine trees thin out, and the way the air gets lighter. There are packs of wild dogs up that way as well, so the scent will change."

"What if we get lost?" Amaterasu asked, wrapping a large, thickly woven traveling kimono over her normal clothing to keep out the chill of the mountains.

"Then she will find you," he laughed. "I'm sure she knows that you're coming."

Togao hauled his sister up into his arms, earning a squeak and a giggle as she kicked her legs to be let down.

"I can walk!"

"It'll be faster if we fly, and you can't do that yet. I'll try not to drop you."

"Hey!"

"Children," Yasuko interrupted, smiling despite herself. "There is one other thing that you must know before you leave."

"Yes, haha-ue?"

"You cannot say Uzume's name out loud while you are visiting her. If she hears it, she may remember her past life and you would be in very grave danger," she explained, her smile gone. "Stay diligent and watch yourself carefully."

"We will, haha-ue," Togao replied, and then nodded his head to both parents. "We'll be off now. I'll make sure this one doesn't say anything incriminating, even with her big mouth."

"You're one to talk!" Amaterasu cried, and then she squealed as he shot up into the air and away from home.

All in all, the journey took two days - and Togao flew nearly non stop, but he wasn't tired by it. They saw a clearing towards the far side of the mountains, speckled with tracks and smelling strongly of wild animals - and near it sat the mouth of a cave. It didn't appear to be very large, but as the two descended and entered they could see that it was actually a series of interconnected pathways. On instinct, Togao took his sister's hand and pulled her towards the farthest path to the right, following it until it opened up again into a cavern deep in the mountain.

It was dark, but dry and warm. At first the siblings wondered if that had gone to the wrong place, but a low voice beckoned them.

"Two inuyokai children," it said gently. "Tell me what you have come for."

"To learn the way of a seer," Amaterasu called back, her voice strong and clear. "Our father is an inugami, and said you might be able to help me."

"Let me think," the voice replied, and there was a gentle sound of fabric rustling and footsteps towards them.

Out of the shadows stepped an inugami, almost appearing to materialize before them. She didn't look old - but her clothing told a different story. It was draped on her body in a way that reflected mainland fashions, something that hadn't been done for hundreds of years; it wasn't impossible to imagine that she was near a thousand.

Her eyes were completely clouded over, a strange, misty pale blue instead of gold. She was blind, but curiously, she seemed to have locked onto the siblings with her sightless gaze. The woman smiled.

"I knew this day would come. Togao and Amaterasu, isn't it? Your father was a friend of mine."

"He told us we should seek you for guidance," Amaterasu said, visibly relaxing. "I was given the gift of sight, but I'm unable to control it."

"Oh, sweet girl, there is no controlling it! It comes and goes as it pleases!" Uzume laughed. Amaterasu blushed bright pink and averted her eyes, forgetting that the woman couldn't see her. "But you can allow it access to your mind, so that you can see with greater clarity."

"Will you teach me how?" Amaterasu asked timidly.

"Of course I will. The only payment I require is you and your brother's company for these next three days. I think it will only take that long to learn the tricks you'll need."

"Oh, thank you," Amaterasu gushed, nearly jumping up and down. She turned to Togao with a broad grin, as if to say _we've done it!_ "When can we start?"

Uzume laughed, but seemed pleased by her enthusiasm and invited the two to sit down by the fire beside her.

"You must remove all of your distractions. There are many things that can stand in the way of your sight - fear, anger, earthly attachments. If you are biased and only see what you want to see, you can never receive a full vision."

"My brain will block it out?"

"Yes, precisely. Not all visions will be happy ones, but that is how the future plays itself out. Meditate for a while on your own distractions - close your eyes and think of what you are afraid of, what you wish for. Once you understand your own desires, it's easier to know what's blocking your mind."

Amaterasu shut her eyes, placing her folded hands in her lap. For a while her eyes fluttered under her eyelids, as though she were dreaming, and then they stopped. Her breathing evened out into a deep, quiet rhythm.

"Is she okay?" Togao asked, leaning in to look at her face.

"She is," Uzume said softly. "She's in a trance. I'm impressed that she figured it out so quickly."

"Can she hear us?"

"Nope!"

Togao tilted his head and watched her for a moment - she seemed unearthly, his little sister transformed into a strange, divine being.

"Why did she get the gift if she's an inuyokai?" he asked, voice low. "Not that it's… a bad thing, I guess, but how did that happen?"

"Silly pup," Uzume laughed. "Inugami and inuyokai are not as different as you imagine. That division is made up by humans who were afraid of their own creations. They were panicked by the idea of letting their servants run free, and so they vilified the offspring and called them demons. But I think inuyokai are still closer to the gods than they realize."

"Chichi-ue speaks kindly of humans," Togao mentioned, still watching his sister. "He's said that without them, none of us would exist. That their cleverness gave birth to us all."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree with him. But humans are just animals, in the end. They are afraid of what they can't control, and hate anything that threatens them."

"Aren't we just animals, too?" he asked.

"A very wise response," she said, patting his knee. "We are indeed. You'll notice I didn't say that we were better than humans! Many inugami and inuyokai make the mistake of believing that they are so much more special than any other living creature, and that only ever leads them to ruin. You must accept your own mediocrity, your own failures, or you can never be more than a dumb, proud animal. But enough of my preaching!"

Togao smiled, a sense of real warmth overcoming him. Uzume was kind, if a bit eccentric. He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment Amaterasu opened her eyes in shock.

"My lady!" she cried, excitedly. "I had a vision!"

"Wonderful!" Uzume laughed, standing and helping the young girl off the ground. "Would you like to share?"

"It was very strange. I saw a man change into a spider."

"Was that all?"

"It was short," Amaterasu said bashfully, looking at her hands. "But it was very clear! I could see all of the details… he had red eyes and unnaturally pale skin, like he was sick, and then his body transformed suddenly into a sort of mass of flesh-"

"Ew," Togao laughed. "What does that mean?"

"I can't tell, exactly," she admitted. "There were all of these little details that seemed wrong. The man looked almost like… like a human, but he couldn't have been. It doesn't make sense."

"It probably won't," Uzume explained. "Another lesson that you will learn: remember your visions. Some of them won't reveal their purpose to you for a very long time."

"Do _you_ know what it means?" Togao asked her, tilting his head. She only smiled at him, never giving a yes or a no.

Uzume turned out to be very selective about what she explained - over the next few days she responded clearly to Amaterasu's questions, guiding her as her visions came more frequently and became more detailed. But to Togao she wouldn't give him any information unless it was in the form of a hint, or a riddle. It irritated him, but Amaterasu thought it was hilarious.

Finally, the third day came. Uzume instructed Amaterasu to sit down and meditate, and wait for her greatest vision yet. So the young girl sat in a trance, quietly contemplating and clearing her brain, before the images began to flood her.

All of her visions before now had not been outright upsetting - this one seemed to cause her more and more distress as it went on. Togao wanted badly to shake her out of it, watching her lips twitch with fear and her hands clench in her lap, but Uzume stopped him from interfering.

At last, when they thought it might be over, Amaterasu relaxed and took a deep breath, and then she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Togao's hands flew to cover his ears, wincing at the sharpness of it, and looking to Uzume for help. The inugami didn't appear surprised by it, but her mouth was set into a deep frown. All at once Togao knew something must be wrong.

When all of the air had finally been pushed out of her chest she fell to her side, her eyes opening and spilling hot tears down her cheeks.

"Togao," she choked. "Togao!"

In a moment he was by her side, cradling her head in his lap and stroking her hair softly as she sobbed. Her hands clutched at his forearms like she was afraid he would vanish.

"What happened to her?" he demanded harshly.

"She's alright," Uzume replied, tone clipped. "But she has had a premonition of death. That's what the screaming means."

"She's clearly not alright, she's terrified! And _death_?"

"Don't bark at me, boy," she snarled, and then reigned her expression back in. "I won't push her for more until she is ready. Some visions are tremendously frightening, just as I explained when you came to me."

Togao ducked his head, looking back to his sister. She had gone still, but tears kept falling from her eyes.

"I'm tired," she breathed. "It's made me so tired…"

"Rest, then. I won't go anywhere."

She laid her cheek against his palm, shutting her eyes. For a little while they stayed that way, until at last she had the strength to pull herself up. She placed her hands on her knees like she was bracing for something.

"I will tell you what I saw."

"Spoken like a true seer," Uzume murmured as she leaned forward, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder for comfort.

"Chichi-ue is the spirit of regret and vengeance left behind in a lost body, and someday, he will lose his mind."

"Go ahead," Uzume encouraged when she faltered.

"This will happen before the winter solstice. His rage will not go without victims. The gods gave me a gift, and have called now for a sacrifice: my life for his."

There was a long silence, as her words sunk into Togao's mind. He shook his head, eyes wide, but didn't speak. She went on-

"You have a part to play in this as well. We all do. If you kill him before he slips beyond reach, my life will be spared. But if you don't, father will kill me and be spared himself. This is the deal I've been given."

"No," he breathed, shaking his head again. "No. How could they do this to you-"

"It is their way," Uzume said quietly. "Every gift requires something in return."

"How could they ask this of me?" he snapped at her, angry and afraid. "To choose between my father and sister? If they insist on playing dirty then I will too!"

"Togao, what do you mean?" Amaterasu asked.

"I won't let either of you die. That's all there is to it."

Uzume frowned, shaking her head. "You can't trick the gods."

"You say that," he replied, grabbing his sister's arm and pulling her upright. "But our very existence is a trick on the gods. I'm not going to just sit around and let you tell me to watch somebody die, I'm going to do something about it - gods be damned."

"Togao!"

"Boy, that is a dangerous game to play," Uzume told him. "You can't change the path that has been given to you. Your sister understands this."

"We've been here long enough," he growled, pulling Amaterasu away and towards the cave's mouth. "We're leaving."

"Togao, wait! My lady, please forgive him-"

"Don't worry, child," the inugami called after her, even as they were about to depart. "I will pray for you both."

Togao gathered his sister up into his arms and leapt, soaring over the treetops. The moment the cave was out of sight, she slapped his upper arm.

"Why did you do that?"

"The old bitch seemed perfectly content to send you off to your death!"

"No, she wasn't, and you just made a fool of yourself to the only person who could help us! And I was the one who saw the vision, not her."

"You can't seriously tell me that you think this will really happen? You want me to kill our father? Or did you want me to watch you die?"

"No!" she cried, huffing. "I want us both to live! But I think that you're making a big mistake by thinking that you can take on the gods, Togao! This isn't your place!"

"They don't like us," he told her, his voice bitter. "We're demons. Or did you forget that? Did your gift make you think you were different from me?"

There was silence between them, before Togao realized that she was staring straight ahead, mouth set angrily and tears rolling down her cheeks. All at once he felt ashamed of himself.

"I didn't- Amaterasu, I'm sorry."

"I didn't ask for this," she said somberly. "I don't want these stupid visions. They aren't a gift at all, they're a curse."

"I shouldn't have said-"

"You need to be more careful," she warned, still not looking at him. "The gods will strike you down in an instant if you challenge them."

He pressed his lips together, and the rest of the journey passed in silence. When they arrived home, Amaterasu said nothing about her vision to either of her parents, or about Togao's outburst. It was as though it simply hadn't happened.

For a little while, it really _was_ like it hadn't happened. Their father showed no sign of slipping away - his mind was as sound as ever, and Togao almost forgot about the vision. Eventually he and Amaterasu made tentative peace with each other, though something had shifted in their relationship. She didn't behave like a little girl anymore. Togao's loud, charming demeanor was replaced with an almost frightening seriousness.

Belatedly, he realized that she had been right: the trip had robbed them of their childhoods.

The winter solstice neared, and a week before its arrival there was no sign that the vision would come true. They simply had to wait for it to pass.

As they sat for dinner together, a monkey servant placed a cup down at the inugami's place and said something it shouldn't have.

"Here you are, Isao-sama."

The inugami withdrew as if burned, staring at the servant. Yasuko stopped drinking her tea mid-sip, her eyes wide.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to-"

"Isao?" he echoed, voice distant. "My name?"

"Begone!" Yasuko hissed, and the monkey hurried away. "Eat," she instructed to her children.

Dinner seemed to pass as usual, but when it was over Yasuko took Togao and Amaterasu away into a separate room.

"You remember why I told you never to repeat Uzume's name to her?"

"Yes," Amaterasu replied, her voice already trembling. "If she remembered her past she would go mad and harm us."

"Your father has remembered his name. There's no telling how long it will take before he remembers all of it, and loses himself."

"That monkey was out of line," Togao said, folding his arms over his chest. "How did it even find out what his name was?"

"I will deal with that later. For now I need you to be extremely cautious," she told them, brow furrowed. "The father that has loved you since your births may be lost already."

That night, the two siblings slept in the same room - they hadn't done so since they were younger, but Amaterasu was deeply afraid and unsettled. All remaining anger between the two was gone now, replaced with fear. Togao was running out of time to come up with a plan to save them both.

He spent nearly every second of his time with his sister, watching over her until he'd run himself nearly ragged with exhaustion. As the week passed, their father seemed to get further and further away from them - he didn't spend time around his family, and when they did see him, he acted as though he didn't know who they were. There was no indication of danger, but Togao knew instinctively that his father was a threat.

The solstice came, and then went. Foolishly, he dropped his guard, hoping that because it had passed, the vision couldn't come true. He was resting against a tree outside one afternoon, enjoying the unusually sunny weather, nearly asleep when he heard a scream from across the mansion.

It was, of course, his sister's voice. He ran, his heart racing so fast he feared it would shatter his ribs, following her scent until he stumbled into an unused room in an isolated servant's wing.

His father hunched over her, his lips and hands dripping with her lifeblood. He had bitten into her throat.

Togao thought he might throw up from the sight of it, but her eyes were somehow more disturbing to him than her blood - they were wide and unblinking, her expression frozen in terror. She had died afraid, killed by her own father.

He turned, and Togao expected remorse, sadness, anything. The vision had promised that if Amaterasu died, his mind would return and never be lost again. But his face was only enraged, twisted in hate. He lunged at his son, and Togao panicked, ducking away from him as Isao crashed into the wall behind him.

"Chichi-ue!" he cried, his voice high. "It's me!"

The inugami didn't appear to understand him. He only bared his teeth, still slick with blood, and watched Togao as though he was waiting.

He wished he had a weapon, anything besides his claws and teeth, but the room around them was empty except for a few old scrolls and Amaterasu's body. When his father lunged again, Togao felt the build of yoki in his chest, the feeling of impending transformation. He had no choice but to either change and destroy this wing of the mansion, or be killed.

His yoki made the choice for him. He could feel his blood turning to fire inside of him, his hands itching to kill. The transformation wasn't full; he still had a human shape, but his brain felt like that of an animal, unreasonable and rabid. In a quick movement he ducked beneath the arc of his father's claws, his hands reaching to his face as though he was embracing him. It only took a moment. The cracking of his neck sounded like thunder to Togao, breaking his panic and turning it immediately to horror.

His father lay motionless, head turned unnaturally, and Togao fell to his knees between him and Amaterasu. It occurred to him too late that this was his punishment for challenging the gods' will - instead of having to choose between his father and sister, they had both been killed. He hung his head, defeated, and wept.

o0o

Yasuko had seen it coming. She told him this after the bodies were laid out in the mountains for hungry animals to take, so that they may return to their homes in the forest and their souls may be among the wild dogs at last.

"Amaterasu saw a vision after you returned home," she explained.

"What did she see?" Togao asked softly, voice thick with grief.

"That you would fail to save her, and leave home."

"Do you want me to leave?"

She looked at him, her expression somehow both critical and melancholy at the same time. "I don't, my son. I love you. But you _have_ failed."

"Will you… will you suffer if I go?"

"It will not be any easier for me," she told him, and suddenly he was gathered into her arms. The scent of her, warm and comforting, overwhelmed him. "I nursed you from my own breast, and taught you from my own heart. I feared this day from the moment I met your father, but I made the choice anyway - and I do not regret it."

Togao shook with tears, his hands clutching the fur on her back.

"I don't understand how I'm going to live, haha-ue," he whispered against the tear soaked fabric of her kimono. "Gods, I could have stopped all of this!"

Yasuko stroked his hair comfortingly, as though he was a child again, and breathed deeply. "You must never forget that this isn't about you. You, Amaterasu, your father and I… our lives are tiny against the backdrop of the earth and heavens. There is a part you will play in it all, but it's no greater than any other creature's."

His grip tightened on her, and he shook his head.

"I don't mean that you're unimportant, my son," she said softer, more tenderly. "But I have made the mistake of letting my pride and confidence blind me to danger. There are things I did long before your birth that I am still paying for, out of greed or ambition… it's not something I would wish for your future."

"How do I repay my debts?" he finally asked, pulling away from her and standing tall. "What should I do?"

Yasuko smiled, and though it was not a happy expression, it was gentle. "Go into the world and take the challenges the gods give to you. Remember all that your father and I have tried to teach you."

Togao nodded, understanding.

In the morning he left his mother's home, with nothing besides the fur pelt on his back and a simple katana shoved through his obi. His mother stood by the gate, seeing him off - he didn't turn back as he walked out into the wilderness around his home, afraid that if he did he may lose the strength keep going forward. He had no plan, no idea what might lie in store for him, and so he faced the strange and unfamiliar world as though that day might be his last.

* * *

 _(edit as of 10/17/2017: So there's a LOT going on already, and this was mostly to set up the rest of the story. Get ready for dog demons GALORE from this point forward, plus some other recognizable characters._

 _I've used the name Togao to refer to the Inu no Taisho before, but I'll just mention again: it's not a strictly canon name, but I like it and I like its meaning. There'll be more on that later, though. In the meantime, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! Til next time!)_


	3. Chapter 2 - Pure Blood

_(AN: OH MY GOD Y'ALL I am so sorry about the length between updates... I swear to you that I'm not dead or anything, I've just been busy and have had some pretty intense writers' block. I don't know if anyone is still gonna be reading at this point, but for those of you who had fav'd, followed, and reviewed, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Not to sound like a beg but I love seeing that kind of encouragement and I love having that interaction with people. Makes me feel like this is less self-indulgent lmao!_

 _I also want to thank my dear Abbey who, always, gives me the inspiration for all of this stuff. It's our late night chats about dog demon headcanons that gave birth to any of this in the first place so I consider her a co-writer in many ways. There'll be more notes at the bottom of the chapter but for now I hope you enjoy!)_

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Pure Blood**

The Tsukino clan prided itself on being the largest and most powerful inuyokai clan on the island of Honshu, and it hadn't gotten to be that way by accident.

As the legends went, their founder was the very first inugami who ever freed herself, and the first one who had given birth to a dog demon. The story had been passed down for generations until it was muddy, mythological - the clan structured itself around their origin story. The inugami woman was their original Lady Mother and the giver of life itself, ascended almost to godhood by her children and their children's children. All around the vast halls and rooms of the familial palace hung scrolls of her, her claws dripping in pure blood, her forehead emblazoned with the crescent moon that would forever be their mark. Eventually the decision had been made that only her obvious progeny would be made rulers, as though she was reincarnated through them. And it followed naturally that her reincarnations would be plainly visible and obvious: women who bore the mark.

Nobody could say for certain whether or not their origin story was true; it had been centuries since they'd interbred with inugami and nobody alive could remember the face of that first clan ruler. For a long time they went in an unbroken chain, mother to daughter, unendingly, and as they did their power grew. Rather than seeking out wars with other clans, the simply absorbed them, offering protection and resources in exchange for these littler clans' cooperation. Like an amoeba they sprawled out over the land, swallowing up new provinces. It only stalled when, for the first time, an heiress couldn't produce any daughters.

A stewardship was called into effect and the rules were put in place - no steward had the power to do what the Lady Tsukino could do. He could not take new land for himself or for the clan, couldn't dissolve existing rules or create new ones, and as long as his mother still lived he was always to be her right hand and no more. His body could never hold the spirit of the first inugami inside of him, and so therefor he could never be their true ruler.

One steward gave way to another; then another. Two generations had passed with no daughters, and then on the third it seemed there would be no daughters once again. The Lady who'd given birth to that first son had held on for dear life, clinging to her title until she had reached nearly nine hundred years, terrified to leave them without a leader. On the eve of her death something miraculous happened - her great grandson's fifth and final wife gave birth to a girl. At last, the long standstill had come to its end, and the clan was propelled into motion once more.

The new Lady was named Rei, and almost without hesitation she began to make changes, to patch up what had decayed and collapsed during the long era of stewards.

First she enacted the creation of a council - all of the leaders of the little provinces that had been annexed were given a place at Rei's table to act as advisors and to keep watch over the land that she now owned.

"We work better in packs, fight stronger together, and live longer with companionship," the Lady Rei had said, as she addressed her council at their inaugural meeting. "My intention is not to take away your identities, but to give you the chance to grow in ways you otherwise may not."

That was the deal she'd given them - by allowing them to keep their family names and by giving them a place on the council she quelled their dissent, but ultimately all of the true power still rested firmly in her own hands. It also meant that she had eyes on all corners in her land, spies who would report back to her and keep her informed at all times. When that had been taken care of, she moved onto the next step - Rei chose the middle son of a rival clan, a young man who had been forgotten in the line of succession.

The terms of her marriage were clear: her husband may live and eat and lay with her, but he was not allowed to persuade her decisions nor have any input into the raising of their own daughters. He agreed, and eventually they had a child.

They named her Izanami, after the goddess of the underworld. She was born on a starry, dark night in winter, and the moon hung as a sliver of white in the sky. It seemed like an otherworldly reflection of the moon on her own forehead, the symbol of her lineage and the predictor of her future. She too would be a leader, like her mother.

When she was old enough to walk, she was taught to maintain her posture. When she was old enough to speak, she was taught tone and etiquette. The moment she had the motor skills to hold a brush, she learned to write and read letters, and she did it well.

Izanami rarely ever spoke to her father, after that. She addressed him as though he were simply another ally to the clan and not her own flesh and blood - if there was anything strange about this, she didn't realize it. Lady Rei was always with her, in any case, so she never felt especially lonely.

Her mother was liberal with both praise and criticism, and undertook everything as a learning opportunity. She brought her to meetings to observe everything from tactical planning to diffusing soured alliances and threats from enemies. Izanami grew into this world of danger and intrigue quickly, seeing the world around her realistically and practically. She was not unhappy with the darkness or difficulty of politics, of what she'd grown up with; and she couldn't miss what she had never known in the first place.

Besides, her mother had instilled something into her - passion for her duty, and hunger to be the very best. Lady Rei kept Izanami with her like a little shadow, always watching her for mistakes and moments that could be turned into lessons.

"You will be strong," she would say quietly before bedtime, stroking her daughter's long, white hair. "You will not fail. You cannot fail."

Izanami heard the words for both of their meanings: her lady mother expected great things from her, but if she was ever deemed unworthy there would be no hesitation in replacing her with a stronger, better daughter.

o0o

Togao's life changed quickly after leaving his mother's home.

He missed her badly, but he didn't miss the emptiness of the house, the way it became quiet after his father and sister died. The wild, open forests were different - even at night he could hear a steady buzz of activity, and he liked the distraction of it. For a few short years he just lived off the land like a wild animal himself, spending most of his time in his true form and doing little more than eating and sleeping. But eventually, he knew he'd have to go back and face society - and if he didn't find it, it would most certainly find him.

One evening as he was high up in a tree, laying around and thinking of where to go next, he smelled the unmistakable scent of fresh meat and felt a swell of yoki. Togao could tell that there were a lot of demons nearby, moving almost as a single, shifting entity. His curiosity got the better of him, and so he slunk down off of his perch and crept closer.

It was an encampment, and it had popped up as if miraculously, without him noticing. All around the outskirts were little tents and smatterings of bedrolls and cooking pots, some occupied by a variety of different demons. Near the center he could see a larger tent - perhaps where the leader was, although he couldn't tell what their purpose was. It didn't even occur to him that they may be dangerous.

"What have we got here?" a voice said suddenly, drawing his attention to whoever had snuck up behind him. "A spy, perhaps?"

He spun, coming face to face with a kitsune woman and a snake yokai, both dressed in dark clothing and armed to the teeth.

"No, I have no affiliation," he said honestly. "I was just-"

"Hm! A well bred dog, just hanging around in the woods for no reason," the snake laughed, his eyes glinting. "And the sky is green."

"Are you a watchdog for one of the inuyokai clans?" the kitsune asked, leaning in to look at his face. "Or were you looking for someone to do your dirty work?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," he replied, his heart picking up pace. They were decidedly unfriendly, and had the look of hungry, wild animals honing in on an injured rabbit. "I don't know any proper clans, anyway."

"They all know each other," the kitsune snorted. "That's alright. I think Satsuki will know what to do with you."

The kitsune suddenly reached out for his arm, gripping it and pulling him towards the center of the camp. He struggled against her, but she slapped something flat against his forehead and he found himself unable to move.

"Hey, do any of you lot want to help me move this man?" she shouted when Togao slumped against her. She gritted her teeth under his weight and glared at him. "He's too heavy for me."

Despite himself, Togao grinned. "Sorry."

When nobody came to her aid, she grumbled and shifted her posture so that she could slip an arm under his and pull him along. He knew that he could be in serious danger, and so he felt obligated to make this as difficult for her as possible, to delay whatever was waiting for him ahead.

Eventually, though, her will won over his. She was sweating and flushed with exertion by the time they'd reached the tent, but the second she could, she dumped him down onto the ground and peeled the paper from his skin. He could suddenly move again.

"Sit still," another voice instructed, and this time he froze. The kitsune bowed her head, smirking at Togao where he sat as though she knew some very great secret. "Kira, go," the voice said harshly, and the kitsune's smile vanished as she bowed again and left.

The voice actually belonged to another inuyokai, but she looked very strange to him. She was grizzled and battle worn, a scar running from her chin to her upper lip and giving her a permanent sneer. Her hair was white, but her eyes weren't gold like he'd expected them to be. They were green instead, a sharp, bitter shade that reminded him of poison.

"Quit your staring, boy, and state your purpose."

"Uh," he managed, not sure what to say. "I don't… I really don't have one."

"Funny. Don't waste my time," she replied, running her tongue over her teeth. "I know your markings, and I don't buy that you just wandered in here. The faster you get to the point the less painful this will be for you."

"You… know my markings?" he repeated. He knew that his mother was an inuyokai and that his father was not, but otherwise he'd been told very little about her life before his birth. The woman looked at him as though she were disgusted, and she came to stand before him, where he was still sitting on the ground.

"If you don't stop playing stupid, I will cut my losses and kill you," she told him. "You're one of the Inazuma. I'd know it anywhere, those warmongering sons of bitches. Who told you how to find us?"

Togao felt real panic start to set in - she was actually serious, and he was still sitting and prone. He reached for his sword and found it was gone; the kitsune must have swiped it from him when he wasn't looking.

"I wasn't told," he told her, trying to keep his voice steady. "And I haven't had contact with my mother's family. I've never even met them."

"So she was one of them," she snarled, snatching Togao up from the ground by his collar, baring her teeth at him. "Give me a name."

He didn't know what to say, or the significance of his mother's clan. He only knew that her claws were sharp and digging into his neck, and that if he didn't act fast he'd die.

"Yasuko," he choked, praying he hadn't doomed her by association. "Her name is Yasuko."

The inuyokai woman's grip loosened, her eyes going wide for a moment. Her surprise didn't last long - her guard was back up in only a second.

"Yasuko died," she told him. "She died during a campaign. She was unmarried and had no children."

"That isn't true," Togao explained, watching for signs that she might let him go. "My mother never returned to her family, but she didn't die. She met an inugami and stayed in hiding with him."

"A bold move," she murmured, "to admit to being an inugami's child."

Togao stayed quiet, and she finally released him, backing away and looking at him critically. "Tell me, then, if that's who you really are," she said, "why are you not with them?"

He shut his eyes for a moment and breathed deep before he told her. "My father learned his name, and went mad. I killed him and left home."

Her eyes changed, a brief moment of something like sympathy in them before it vanished. Then she shrugged.

"My name is Satsuki," she said. "You will defer to me until our leader returns from her hunt, at which point she will decide what to do with you."

He nodded, brushing the dirt from his clothing.

"Boy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have a name?"

"Togao," he said, frowning when she snorted.

"A pretentious name, but I'd expect nothing less from a child of the Inazuma. Come, we have work to do."

Dutifully, he followed her out.

For the rest of the day he trailed behind her, and she set him to work - mostly physical labor, hauling things around at her whims. He'd never been worked so hard in all of his young life, and by evening he was exhausted from it, sticky with sweat and stripped down to just his hakama.

"You look halfway decent now," the kitsune from before, Kira, laughed when he shoved a stake into the ground for another tent. "A little toughening up does you a lot of good, pretty boy."

He glared at her, and she cackled and skittered away.

Finally, Satsuki returned and dragged him back to the main tent. She stopped just before entering, giving him a hard look.

"Gods, you reek," she said, wrinkling her nose. "But it can't be helped. Hiro-sama can't be fooled by petty deceptions. Sell your usefulness to her, answer honestly, and cut to the point when she asks you a question."

"Understood," he said, and then he was thrust into the tent.

Before him sat a large, tough looking woman - but unlike Satsuki she seemed more pleasant. He'd never met a bear demon before, but she had the same musky scent as the bears he'd seen a few times in the forests around his childhood home, and he concluded that she must be one too.

"Don't mind her," Hiro said, smiling. "Satsuki was just making sure you weren't here to assassinate me. Though by the looks of it, you couldn't even if you wanted to."

"I'm stronger than I look," he replied sharply.

"Oh?" she hummed, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know what it is that we do, pup?"

He shook his head.

"We're mercenaries. Sometimes we work on the mainland - doesn't matter where, as long as there is compensation."

Togao swallowed heavily, and waited for her to continue.

"Sometimes we're just muscle, paid to get loans back or frighten off brigands," she told him, still smiling. "Sometimes we fight as extra bodies in a battle."

"I can do that," he said, but his voice wavered.

"Can you? I've been told you've killed before, but it was a crime of necessity and not one of your choosing. The blood is still fresh for you."

He averted his eyes, feeling very exposed under her scrutiny. It was as though she knew him already; he remembered what Satsuki told him about her, her inability to be deceived. He believed it.

"I didn't want to kill my father. I don't want to kill anyone, but I know I can be useful to you in other ways."

"Such as?"

"I'm young and strong, and I've been trained to read and write well. I'm not too proud for filthy jobs, either, and anything I can't do I can learn," he said, holding his head up and leveling her with the noble and proud look he'd seen on his mother before. It must have worked, because Hiro stood and smiled even wider.

"Do you enjoy power? Do you desire conquest?"

"No," he said bluntly. "I want to be helpful, but mostly I just don't want to die."

"Simple goals, but not always realistic in this day and age. Consider yourself hired," she laughed. "It may comfort you to know that you've passed my test. We may be mercenaries, but we have our scruples: nobody here would ever take a life for the fun of it. We don't do assassinations, either, which doesn't make us popular with the nobles."

Satsuki's hostility seemed to click into place for him. She believed that he was one of those nobles, looking for a sword-for-hire.

"So what do you specialize in, then?"

Hiro folded her massive arms over her chest.

"Empowering the lower classes. Your mother's family is just one of many who've become too large for their own good - they have armies, where the poor and the marginalized have none. We fight for them."

"You'd take me, even knowing that I was one of her people?" he asked, regretting it the moment it left his mouth. It didn't seem to change her decision, though.

"She left them purposefully and gave that all up for an inugami in the mountains. I've never met her, but I suspect I would like this woman. No," she said, "for that very reason you can be of use to us."

o0o

It was not long before Togao learned their ways. He picked up the work easily; it was mostly physical labor around the camp, hauling things around as they moved from place to place. Some of it was really just as simple as breaking up fist fights and scaring off vermin for whoever had hired them, and occasionally taking a few blows himself. But the work he enjoyed more than anything was those occasions where he was called on to de-escalate a situation, to calm down an angry neighbor, to come between bickering friends, to help a young wife forgive a foolish husband. Though Togao had always been more hotheaded than his father and sister, he found it natural to play the part of diplomat as long as he didn't get emotionally involved.

Hiro noticed quickly how charismatic he was, how fast he got people to like and trust him. Had she been anyone else she may have even been threatened, but she enjoyed the young man's quick thinking and commanding personality.

Satsuki, on the other hand, was not charmed.

She hated him - or at least she avoided him, never making eye contact or refusing to speak in his presence. It made Togao feel frustrated like never before, because even at his prickliest nobody had ever hated him. He rose slowly through the ranks, and everyone else either warmed to him or at least tolerated his presence - but not her. On the evening of a large journey to the mainland, he'd decided that he'd had enough and cornered her.

"Oi!" he shouted, tracking her down in one of the food tents. It was late in the night, empty except for her as she dutifully recorded the inventory. "I wanted to talk to you."

She lifted an eyebrow, but wouldn't look at him.

"What's your problem with me?" he barreled on, planting his feet firm and deciding not to be dissuaded from this task.

"For one, you are stupid enough to pick a fight with a superior," she told him, still not looking away from what she was doing.

"I know that isn't it. You've hated me from day one."

"Why should I have a reason? Why should you need to know the answer? Is it not enough that I leave you alone?"

"No! It isn't," Togao barked, irritated. "I figured an inuyokai should know the importance of sticking together-"

"There's my problem with you, actually," Satsuki interrupted, standing suddenly and turning on him. Her bright green eyes flashed dangerous. "Your naivety is astounding."

"How can I help what I don't know? I've tried to ask you before, but you never tell me anything."

"How's this, then: you are the sheltered, spoiled love-child of a noble and a cast away, and you need to pull your head out of your ass before someone recognizes you for what you really are," she hissed, making to brush past him. He held firm, anger boiling inside his gut.

"Hiro doesn't mind, and she knows exactly what I am," he bit back, blocking the exit. "There's something else you aren't telling me."

Satsuki looked like she'd been stabbed through the stomach, lurching to grip his upper arms to move him out of her way. The pointed tips of her claws dug in painfully, and on an impulse he grabbed her back, wrenching her wrists away from him. She had always been stronger than him - when he'd joined he was only barely into adulthood, still young, thin, and awkward looking. He hadn't noticed any changes, having been to busy or too preoccupied with other work to reevaluate what he'd become.

When she shifted her weight, ready to kick him squarely in the shins, he neatly swept her feet out from under her and pinned her to the floor with an elbow to her stomach. He'd never bested her before that moment, no matter how hard he'd tried, but now it came to him without thinking.

"I just want an answer," he told her, no longer angry so much as surprised. "I didn't choose to be ignorant."

She was breathing quickly, eyes wide, face furious, until at last she huffed in defeat.

"The Inazuma. That's what it is," Satsuki said, and he sat back to release her, surprised that she didn't immediately bolt. "Your mother's clan took everything they had from the surrounding peoples, no matter who they were. Inuyokai or not, didn't matter. They didn't even want the land, just the thrill of battle and victory. What does that mean for the poor, the weak, the sick?"

Togao swallowed heavily, shame rising in his face.

"Oh, I know how the sayings go," she went on, shaking her head. "The strong conquer the weak, and that's the way of the world. But none of them are any better than us, no matter how they fight and cheat their way to the top of the food chain. The proud, famous Inazuma clan? It's been dying for years now, and what will they do now that their power has waned? They'll scrape for survival like the rest of us filthy lowlifes."

He was silent, staring at his hands, at the lightning shaped marks over his wrists.

"I see your ambition, pup," she said slowly, punctuating the words sharply. "And it looks like the ambition of the inuyokai lordlings who've murdered children in their beds over a scrap of land."

And without another word, she stood and left him alone.

For a long, long while he sat in the dark tent, thinking. His mother had talked about debts she had to repay to the gods, of things she had done - perhaps, even, alluding to the reason she'd left it all behind her. Togao was the product of generations of greed and bloodlust. It didn't matter that his body had grown, that he was the tallest and the fastest and the strongest - he still felt young, stupid.

Was he destined to fight the way they'd fought?

After a time he stood, and went to the only person he could think of for guidance. Hiro sat by herself, writing a letter in the dim candlelight of her tent, and as though she'd been expecting him she gestured for him to sit beside her.

"I assume you had a tiff with Satsuki?" she chuckled, looking him over with her dark, prodding eyes. "She blew through here in here a moment ago."

"I-"

"No, I know what happened. Please, try to understand her," she said gently. "She is the daughter of two inugami, which as I'm sure you'd know, is a problem with the purebred families. What she's told you about your own kin is all true."

Togao sighed, bowing his head, and chanced a question: "Did the Inazuma ever… kill anyone she knew personally?"

"That hardly matters," Hiro snorted. "Is your conscience troubled by this news?"

"Yes!" he replied, the word coming out in a burst. "If my family had killed one of her own, how could she ever work with me? Wouldn't she want revenge?"

"It wasn't yours, anyway. It was the Osafunes who took her parents lives," Hiro explained. "But you are hung up on the details. This is larger than Satsuki; she likely would have had to kill them herself anyway, and even if your mother hadn't personally slaughtered her parents, someone in your clan was almost sure to have killed someone she knew, at some point in time. It isn't quite so personal."

"But she still hates me."

"Yes, but she hates everyone of noble blood. Why do you think I've kept you?" Hiro asked, laying down her brush and folding her hands together. "I knew well the power of the Inazuma. My gods, the pain they inflicted upon the spirits of this island just for the chance to say they'd won a fight."

"Do you believe that's my fate? To be like them?"

"I would have killed you on sight if I'd believed that," Hiro chuckled. Her eyes met his, chestnut brown, filled with honesty. "No. You have a purpose with us, and it's one I've been looking forward to for a long time."

Togao remained silent, still looking deeply into her gaze, trying to read it for the answer.

"Nobody in this company's got an in with the nobles," she explained. "And that's to be expected - they hate us, we hate them. We're the dredges of demon society, the lowest born. It isn't only the inuyokai, either, it's the dragons, the panthers, even some of my own kind. They're all high born and quite comfortable that way, and they'll do whatever it takes to maintain the status quo.

"Now understand this: what all of us here have in common is that we're tired of being hunted and killed and beaten. There are more of us than there are of them, and they are too busy fighting each other to care about us."

"Where do I come into all of this?"

"You can get them to listen to you. You've got the markings, and your mother had the connections," Hiro told him, her face lighting with excitement, the kind that warned him instinctively of something dangerous ahead. "I've watched you rise these last few years, my boy. People listen to you. They will, too, all you need is a following."

"Hiro-sama?"

"What I'm saying is that we unite the common folk under your name, and make those bastards notice you. If they won't listen to your reason, then they will listen to your force!"

Togao felt like the world was spinning madly around him, and he was smack in the middle, dizzy and unbalanced. Only an hour ago his ambition seemed like a curse, and now Hiro wanted him to use it.

"But I… I've never led anyone," he said, dumbly.

"Well, no, it doesn't happen overnight!" she laughed, patting his knee with a large hand. "What I'm proposing is that you become an apprentice to me of sorts… so that you can learn the ways before you take them yourself."

"I don't mean to sound impertinent," he told her, "but I don't understand why you can't do this yourself? Everyone here already trusts you."

"Simple. I'm dying," she shrugged. Togao gasped sharply, and made to apologize, but she hushed him with a wave of her hand. "Oh, don't fret! I've lived a long time. You, on the other hand, are still very young and ripe for learning - and besides that the nobility already have made up their minds never to listen to a word I say. They don't even know you exist yet, so you can still take them by surprise."

He was quiet once more, considering the offer.

There was a lot to be afraid of, surely - but a little voice nagged in his head that maybe with this opportunity, he could right some of the wrongs of his mother's family. Perhaps that had always been his purpose; so much of his mother's teachings made sense to him now, her insistence that he go out into the world and make his mark. And, in all honesty, he wanted to. His spirit craved a chance to be praised and adored and followed, the blood in his veins singing at the idea of commanding an army and leading them gloriously to victory. Maybe Satsuki had been right about who he was, and maybe he couldn't change his nature - but he could change his cause, and that might be good enough.

"Satsuki won't like it," he finally said. "She's your right hand woman. Wouldn't I get in her way?"

"Don't worry about Satsuki," Hiro replied, her eyes mischievous. "Besides, my relationship with her is… markedly different than with you. There's an understanding between us."

It took him a second to catch on, but then he dropped a little "oh!" and felt himself flushing. Hiro laughed at his expense, but when she stopped her face had become serious.

"Will you do as I've asked you?"

Togao felt like the souls of a hundred dog demon ancestors stood behind him in that very moment, screaming in his ear. They were his mother's family: his unknown relatives, crying for him to take up his sword and show the world the power of his bloodline, to do them proud. But somewhere amongst them, the most compelling voice of all whispered to him, achingly real even though he was only imagining it.

Go forward, brother. This is your future!

He smiled, and nodded to Hiro.

"I will do all that you ask."

o0o

It would be a while before Togao was truly ready for the task.

Hiro expected that he'd need time to mature - it always seemed that young men needed more time, anyway - and she knew exactly where he could practice and perfect his skills. The mainland was huge, sprawling, filled with opportunities that no island could hope to match, and so after a few decades of hard work in their homeland, she suggested that the mercenaries try their hands and seek their fortune elsewhere.

Satsuki, Hiro, and Togao were the only ones who knew the true reason. Everyone else simply followed Hiro out of trust, and eagerness to stretch out and feel the world.

Perhaps at first, Togao would have described it as idyllic. They took petty work, scraping about until finally they'd gotten a reputation set up - and soon, every demon in China who was worth their salt knew Hiro's band. But more particularly, they knew about her protégé, the young inuyokai with the loud, booming voice and the fire behind his eyes. Togao found it easy to make people listen to him, even as he stumbled over the unfamiliar languages and dialects - his tone and attitude were strong enough to convince them even when the words were mismatched. After only a few decades the seeds had been sown for Hiro's plans, but it still seemed that she was waiting for one last piece to fall into place before she sent her army back to Japan, with Togao as their leader.

His chance to prove himself ready finally came, in the form of a Mongol invasion. There'd been one before, an attack from a group of humans on the mainland - but the humans of the island had fought back, a divine wind on their side that drove away the invaders. The battle was messy and indecisive, leaving a mass of corpses and lost souls. And Hiro had paid attention to it, knowing that other demons would come out of the shadows to feast on those who'd perished - or those who were still alive, but injured.

"That's barbaric," Togao had told her upon discovering the news of it.

"You care for human life?"

"I'm an inuyokai," he replied easily, a mantra he'd repeated a hundred times before now. "They made us."

"Where on earth did you pick up that nonsense," Hiro laughed, waving her hand. "Not that I doubt your origin story, pup, but why the love for a breed of creatures too weak to do their own bidding?"

"We're all nothing but dumb animals," he said waspishly, frowning at her. "Who have had the sheer, dumb luck to be given the gifts of speech and thought. Humans too."

Had she been any other sort of leader, she might have punished him for talking back, but instead she smiled.

"You are very strange, and so are your values. But what else would I have you for? Convince your fellow soldiers that a few human souls are worth saving, and I believe the time will be right for your ultimate test."

It was easier said than done to sway people's opinions. Togao struggled over it for nearly a week, trying to figure out how to address them, how to make them care about human lives.

To his surprise, it was not Hiro who offered him a solution, but Satsuki. He'd swept into the tactician's tent, where she was always plotting and gathering information, frustrated with his uselessness. Somehow she'd gotten him to explain himself, and his real reason for coming - not to borrow a map after all, but in the hopes that his solution would be hiding in one of the many scrolls she kept on hand.

"What do we have in common?" she asked him pointedly, raising a brow as he paced around.

"We're dogs. Other than that, nothing."

"Not us, idiot, all of the soldiers here?"

"We're demons. I'm asking demons to fight on behalf of the animals they see as food half the time!"

"We're commoners, and there are a lot of us," she pointed out, her voice dripping with disdain. "How could you have overlooked that?"

"What does that have to do with humans?"

"What are they good at?" she asked, raising her voice over his. "They fight, live, and breed quickly. They are everywhere. No other clan of demons will associate with them, because they're so busy looking down their noses, but what do you have if you make nice with the hairless apes?"

Togao's eyes flew wide open, his open hand slamming down onto the writing desk where she sat.

"By the gods, Satsuki, you're actually right!" he cried in astonishment. "There's a whole mass of them, just waiting for someone to take notice and recruit them…"

"Beat everyone else to the punch. Those blue blooded noble bastards may laugh at you at first, but they'll see who's laughing once you've overwhelmed them."

"I would than you," he laughed, grinning, suddenly excited at the new source of potential. "I'd have to cut out my own tongue afterwards, though."

"Better not, then, since I'd cut it out first," she replied swiftly - but peculiarly, she was smiling too.

With that as ammunition, he addressed Hiro's band for the first time as her General.

"We all have heard of the destruction this invasion has caused," he began, his voice projecting across the encampment where they gathered before him. "It has happened before. Where humans fall, scavengers will follow - those who scavenge the dead know that there are rules. You wait until the soul has passed on, or risk angering the gods. We have always followed the law of the divine - or have not, and been punished accordingly.

The moth daiyokai, Hyoga, believes he is above such laws. In the last invasion the gods sent wind and water to deter him, but still he intends to return, and he is leading his followers to feed. He does this on the shores of our homeland!"

"Why should we care about humans?" an old member of the group cried. "When their flesh so often feeds us?"

"Hear me," he responded, anticipating the shock he was about to inevitably cause. "We have long thought of ourselves as people who fight for the common and the weak. In return, we have grown to this size and magnitude. Humans are not so unlike us, in that way; they have weapons to defend themselves, and they can kill demons with practice, but they're helpless to stop an invasion.

If we can win their trust by doing this and coming to their aid, think of how many new allies we will have gained. They exist in the hundreds of thousands on our island alone! Even with their inferior strength, they are a force to be reckoned with in that amount - we may finally have the power behind us to bring down the daiyokai clan leaders who've tormented us and our kind."

There was a murmur across the crowd, spreading like a wildfire and growing into a blaze of shouting and accusations.

"We don't need their help!"

"I'm not dying for any human, no matter what you tell me."

"Maybe he's right."

And it went that way for five long minutes, Togao's stomach in knots as he wondered what else to say to convince them. Hiro stood silently behind him, watching in stillness. She could end this all with a command, and they would do as she bid, but it would ultimately defeat the point.

"If we do this," Togao tried again, his voice bellowing. "Then we will have succeeded where no other demon has before."

"And if we fail," shouted back another person from the front of the crowd, "then we will never work again!"

"Then we will not fail!"

Togao wasn't sure where the words had come from, only that he felt them rip through his chest like burrs. There was utter silence before him; he had subdued the crowd with only five words, somehow. It was like an unknown power had unleashed inside of him, a desire to command, the ability to hush doubts with no more than a single look.

"You've passed another test," Hiro said under her breath behind him. "I must say, I've never heard you use that voice before."

He smiled, a shaky sensation growing inside him until it threatened to burst, and he raised his closed fist above his head.

"We will not fail!" he cried, and the crowd echoed it back, over and over.

o0o

Most inuyokai took the first step into adulthood after their first controlled transformation, when they were finally allowed to experience their true forms. The yoki set off a kind of physical chain reaction, making them grow and mature in a matter of only a few years, until they looked very much like fully formed adults. But for as quickly as it happened, they were no older than a human child at a similar stage in development, with only perhaps fifteen or sixteen years of wisdom behind them. It would take something much more powerful than a flashy display of yoki to prove an inuyokai's independence and readiness to marry or have children of their own. Like humans - though the inuyokai would argue that it was far more impressive - they had rites of passage before an adolescent was truly allowed to become an adult.

It varied greatly from clan to clan, from one individual to another. For some it happened in only a year, and for others it could go on for a century.

Izanami launched into adulthood faster than any of her peers, her quick wit and silver tongue soothing council disputes and demanding attention and respect even from demons who were centuries older than her. She'd been even younger than her own mother, but it was clear that she was ready to begin her training to someday become the new leader.

At first Izanami had understood that she could expect to wait a while before her time to rule would come - her mother's mind was still sound, her body still healthy. And besides, these processes took time; the change from daughter to ruler would be fraught with challenges and hangups. But at the very least she had hoped that Rei would trust her with more important tasks as she got older, would give her some taste of her future, the chance to stretch out and grow into her role.

Izanami would not speak against her mother - Lady Rei was, after all, the highest power in the clan and in Izanami's own personal life. But every day, her resentment and impatience grew and festered like an open sore. She'd slowly come to realize that her mother was withholding something, keeping her untapped power away from her on purpose.

She was forced to put it at the back of her mind, because there were other concerns to be dealt with. Rei had called together a council meeting to discuss some troubling news; Izanami sat beside her at her right hand, surveying the men and women gathered together.

The recently appointed Lord Nomiya lived along the eastern border of the Tsukino territory, shoulder to shoulder with their greatest rival - their proximity to each other meant that he was often the first to know what they were doing, and he had a funny way of always precuring the information quickly and secretly.

"The Osafunes are in a state of unrest," he explained as the council came together. "But it comes from an unexpected source. Their highest leader was recently issued a direct challenge by a band of low born mercenaries."

"How is this of any concern to us?" Rei asked, folding her hands. Lord Nomiya coughed, afraid to waste her time or have his news dismissed. He went on.

"We have all had small run ins with the bear yokai Hiro and her band of miscreants, of course," he explained, and the council tittered. "They had previously been little more than a nuisance to us… but Hiro has died, and they have a new leader."

"Can you confirm it?" she said sharply. "I'm not interested in gossip."

"I can confirm it without a doubt, my lady. I think this will interest you."

She leaned back, waiting for him to prove himself. Lord Amenomori, from the western coastline, took the opportunity to jump in and offer up everything he knew when Lord Nomiya took a half a second too long to reply.

"My lady recalls the invasion of humans along my border. There were swarms of low level demons following it, hoping to feast on the foul flesh of the dead. Among them was a daiyokai from the mainland and his followers, a moth called Hyoga - he was unexpectedly challenged by Hiro's band. Nobody can be certain why, despite our best efforts to discover the reason. What is certain is that Hiro had appointed a young man as her General, and he singlehandedly fought and defeated Hyoga, and his followers from China were all but wiped out."

"A fight between foreigners and a group of mercenaries?" Rei said delicately, her brow arching high to indicate her irritation. Lord Nomiya hedged for half a second and then cut to his point, leaning in to punctuate it.

"They call the general Inu no Taisho."

"Inu no Taisho?" Izanami echoed. "So he is an inuyokai?"

"Here is what I think you must watch for especially," he replied, his eyes intense. "It is generally understood that Hiro had groomed him to take her place one day, but it's more complicated than that - he is an Inazuma by his mother's blood."

"They'd all died out," Izanami interjected suddenly, forgetting herself for a moment in surprise.

"All the pure bred ones, anyway," Rei replied, frowning.

"Certainly. His return has set off an unprecedented reaction among demons across this stretch of the island. When Hiro's band left for China, they had no following. This Inu no Taisho is recruiting people with the power and fame he'd won on the mainland, and he is recruiting them quickly. Any kappa or kitsune on the streets and in the wilds would recognize his name without a doubt."

"China was his training ground," Rei said knowingly. "What of his challenge to the Osafunes?"

"After the Inu no Taisho sent word of his intentions, he was ambushed by one of their best regiments - so clearly they were treating him as a threat," Lord Nomiya explained. "He fought them back and won, despite being unprepared. This was all less than a day's journey from our own border."

"And nobody knows why he challenged them?" Izanami asked, curiosity growing. "Has he given no reason?"

"There is nothing but speculation at this point. If he could defeat them, he may pose a serious problem to all of us."

At once, Rei smiled - a frightening sign. "This meeting is dismissed."

The council adjourned as quickly as it had come together, a wave of talk breaking out among the council members even as they dispersed from the meeting hall. At last, the only people who remained were the Lady and her daughter. Rei turned to Izanami, her beautiful, delicate face filled with a dangerous hunger. This was a look she got often, whenever she had a plot in mind.

"My dear," Rei cooed, smiling. "I believe we shall have to invite the Inu no Taisho into our home."

* * *

 _(edit as of 2/22/2018: IT'S SESSMOM! Possibly one of my favorite characters to write and a bit of an enigma - some people characterize her as very cold and very unfeeling, but I got the impression that like Sesshomaru, some of that apathy was a front for something much deeper. There's going to be a lot more of her in this fic._ _Also, her name here is Izanami... I'd used Asami in Otoko no Yurei a million years ago as a placeholder because I never found anything I liked better. But then my gf told me she was using Izanami for her Sessmom RP and? It stuck. It makes sense that a women with a portal to Hell on her necklace would have that name._

 _Thank you for reading and I will see you next chapter!)_


	4. Chapter 3 - The Dueling Clans

_(AN: I'm back and I have more! I'd really like to keep this on a schedule of updating at least once a month, but I feel like I have less and less time for writing these days. I will continue to try and put this forth at a more reasonable pace than I have been, though!_

 _Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, fav'd, and followed this story. It gives me so much motivation whenever I see a kind review, even just a short one - and of course constructive criticism as well. Enjoy!)_

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - The Dueling Clans**

Togao was exhausted down to his bones.

The Osafune clan had been an obvious first choice for him - they were huge, nebulous, powerful. But more importantly, they were cruel in their power, and so he'd made it a personal mission to destroy them first. Even stepping foot onto their land seemed to fill him with a kind of righteous fury, as they wandered through the demon settlements and he saw fellow inuyokai living in squalor. The conditions reminded him of human slums, a startling parallel - no dog demon should be so helpless, but here they were, crushed under the greater power of the nobility. He was angry in a way he'd never been before.

Satsuki had not tried to stop him, her own eyes filling with vengeance when he told her his plans to take them down.

"The sooner the better," she spat. From then on, despite whatever had passed between the two of them in the past, Togao and Satsuki were united in this one particular goal.

The battle that followed his message to the highest ranking clan lord came out of nowhere. It seemed like the soldiers had arrived from mist and shadows, armed and ready to take Togao and everyone who followed him to the netherworld. But where they had the element of surprise, Togao had numbers behind him - and he was nothing if not tenacious. The Osafune had attacked in the dead of night; by morning, the mercenary encampment was a bloody crater, strewn with bodies and entrails and reeking of death as the sun began to climb up over the horizon. A number of them were Togao's - humans, demons, men and women - but the large majority of the corpses were not.

After that he received no further contact from the Osafune's leader. While the survivors of the battle rejoiced in this, Togao knew what it really meant: he had made an extraordinarily powerful enemy, and worse things were yet to come.

Even quicker than he'd anticipated, he received another message - this time from a clan called the Tsukino.

"What can you tell me about them?" he asked Satsuki as she read over the invitation. He felt tense, irritated, still wound up tight from his latest battle. "Why do they want to speak with me?"

"Hush, your growling and yapping is making it hard to focus," she snapped. He plopped down, glaring at the paper in her hands like he could make the words pop off of of it and explain themselves to him. "The Tsukino hate the Osafune, and have for a long time. They're both too big for this place and they're constantly fighting over their borders."

"So they liked my challenge to the Osafune?"

"I think it's something like that. Their leader is the most conniving bitch you'd ever have the misfortune to meet," Satsuki laughed humorlessly. "She knows how to bargain. She could take everything from you and still make you believe you'd gotten the better end of the deal. I'm going to guess that she thinks you're too dangerous to be left alone one way or another."

"Do I take the invitation?" he muttered, furrowing his brows. "Or is this a trap?"

"Yes and yes," Satsuki laughed again. "For what little it's worth, she'll try her hand at negotiations before she does anything else."

"And then what?"

"Don't take anything less than we deserve from her. If she offers half, you take whole. Don't give her any reason to think you won't overpower her if given the chance."

Togao frowned, a feeling of foreboding deep in his gut, as he set out to write the Lady Rei back.

o0o

The day of the Inu no Taisho's visit came fast upon Rei and Izanami, and Izanami was nearly bursting with eagerness to see how this would unfold. She knew how to behave herself, of course, but there was still a part of her that felt a certain sense of delight in this kind of scandal and drama, a youthful love of turmoil.

She was also curious to meet the man who had given their rivals so much difficulty. In her mind's eye she envisioned a bastard, roughened from battle, uncouth and unlikeable. Her mother had warned her that she should be extremely careful of herself, not to be offended outwardly by his mannerisms no matter how poorly he behaved.

As they swept into the meeting hall and settled down on their platform she'd quite convinced herself that this would be a very entertaining visit. She was not totally wrong.

He entered the room before he was announced, a serious breach of etiquette, but he was either ignorant or rude and didn't appear to notice it. Izanami found herself trying to adjust herself suddenly to the swell of yoki that followed him in, an overwhelming aura that seemed to blaze around the room for a moment before settling. Rei straightened her back, smiling serenely, and gestured for him to kneel before the pair.

The Inu no Taisho took his place, fists on his knees, and stared at Izanami's mother almost defiantly. Izanami felt an odd jolt run through her, something she couldn't identify immediately; this man was hardly out of boyhood, it seemed, only just older than her. She took in the sharpness of his eyes, the markings over his tanned cheeks, and almost laughed out loud at his youth and freshness.

But he had defeated some powerful foes, and she knew it, so she pressed down her laughter and waited for her mother to speak.

"We are truly grateful for your presence today," Rei said, light and noble. "I, as you know, am the Lady of the Western Lands, Rei of the Tsukino clan."

She swept a hand out in front of Izanami, gently curling it and dropping it back into her lap.

"And this is my heiress, Izanami. Welcome to our home."

"Not that you gave me much choice," the man snorted, tilting his head. "Why did you ask me here?"

"There is a always a choice," Rei replied smoothly. "And I will get to that. I don't enjoy wasting my time any more than yours, so do not worry."

The Inu no Taisho shifted, already uncomfortable in his seiza. Izanami watched him with a certain sense of fascination, amazed at his indelicacy.

"I have heard many things about you," Rei began, leveling her head to stare directly into his eyes. "Of who you have defeated, where you have been. But what I find most interesting is the issue of your birth - you are Yasuko's illegitimate child. Don't be surprised that I know this; I had known her many, many years before you were born, before she or I had even transformed for the first time."

"You knew my mother?" he asked, the guarded expression on his face flagging for all of half a second before his hackles were raised again. "What's your point?"

"The Inazuma and the Tsukino clans have never been unfriendly with one another." Rei explained. "And now I come to find that you have fought our bitterest enemy, and won against them… well. It can only be natural to see you as a potential ally."

"I am not your friend," he told her, his face dark. "And in fact, I will tell you exactly what I told them: the reason I challenged them was not out of passion for conquest. I don't want your lands or your titles. I want to see your poor and weak cared for and treated with dignity, and if you will not see to it then you'll pay for their suffering yourselves."

"A very noble cause," Rei sighed, folding her fingers together. "But misplaced. The Osafune may take pride in their people's poverty, but we here detest it. I should not need to tell you myself; go into the lands around Saigoku and see for yourself. We care for our own."

"I understand your angle, Lady Rei," he replied. "Yes, in comparison to the Osafune, your lands are a paradise, but that's only because their standards are so shockingly low. I know why you asked me here; you wanted to strike while the iron was hot, and get rid of me before I caused you any trouble."

Rei laughed, clapping her hands together. Izanami sat still, waiting for her mother to deliver the final tactical blow.

"I certainly did, dear boy! We do not care to fight with those we can befriend. Ask any of the families who have _willingly_ joined us," she told him, still smiling. "They may hate my guts, but I can very much promise you that they are better off with me than against me. You will be, too, and I'll see to it myself."

"You presume too much."

"I presume correctly," she interjected, holding up a finger to shush him. "Tell me, was your battle against the Osafune difficult? Did it exhaust you?"

The Inu no Taisho was silent, contemplative. Izanami watched a sort of sadness pass over his face, the darkness under his eyes suddenly more obvious to her.

"It was, and that was only to test your skill, for them to judge exactly how powerful you really are. They will have more to throw at you, all before you even have time to recover. You may have won," Rei finally said, "but you haven't won for good."

He heaved a deep, heavy sigh. Still, he maintained a certain defiance, a defensive and strong posture.

"What could I possibly gain by allying with you?" he asked her, slowly. "If you know I don't want land, money, or infamy?"

"I can give you what you crave the very most: the power to change injustices as you see fit," Rei told him simply. "With our power combined they may finally relent their persecution of both my people, and of those whose land they desire."

Izanami heard her mother soften, wind down, and immediately knew it was her turn to speak. She had done it many, many times before - though not tender hearted by any means, she was younger and came off as more sincere. If Izanami could not convince him, nobody could.

"Inu no Taisho," she said, watching his eyes snap over to her. "Your hesitation is understandable, but it is ultimately unnecessary. We are not interested in harming you."

"I'm a threat," he pointed out, his fangs flashing for a moment to prove it. "You are going to want to neutralize me one way or another."

"Of course, we can't have loose ends," she replied. "But you must understand the bigger picture. We could kill you, yes, but all that would do is remove you. What about the people you lead, who might want revenge? Where would that leave us with our troubles in dealing with the Osafune?"

He was very quiet, taking it in. Izanami thought it was a good sign that he seemed to be seriously considering it, and she finally pressed forward to her final point.

"We _need_ you, Inu no Taisho, and you need us. Let's not allow our own prejudices to destroy what we've both worked so hard to cultivate."

She watched him, carefully staying honest and gentle; she didn't find it hard. They did need him - though they'd get on without him if they had to - and at the very least they'd been able to make an impression on him, to plant the idea in his head. At last he nodded his head once, looking back to Rei.

The fire behind his eyes glowed hotter. Izanami wondered at his intensity, if he was always this way, if he ever cooled off.

"I will consider your offer," he told the Lady. "However, I promise you nothing until I have discussed it with my tactician and my troops. I suspect they will have a lot to say on the matter, and my first duty is to them. I'll return to give you an answer in a week."

"Of course," Rei said, standing, and both Izanami and the Inu no Taisho followed her example. "I do so look forward to hearing your decision, and I thank you for your time. Please, stay a while and refresh yourself before you return-"

"No," he cut in. Another breach of etiquette, but this time it appeared intentional. "I will take my leave of you now. Thank you, Lady Rei, Lady Izanami."

He gave them each a curt bow, bending at the waist, before sweeping himself out of the room and away from the castle.

"It went well, even though he is an insufferable brute," Rei laughed, gesturing for Izanami to follow her out of the hall. "Come, daughter, let's go for our noon tea."

o0o

"Have you lost your mind completely?!"

Satsuki was in a bad mood, which Togao had expected and anticipated, but still had found himself dreading.

"You shouldn't even be considering it, let alone _want_ to! They want to use you! They want to use all of us to do their bidding! I told you that there was no dealing with them," she hissed, her arms folded over her in anger. "You can't give them anything that they want or they will very literally take everything. Nobody will ever follow you into this!"

"You don't know that, Satsuki," he said, trying not to shout back and worsen her temper. "Where else are we going to get the chance to do something like this? How in the hell would we be able to defeat the Osafune on our own? You _know_ how much trouble they've given us already, and that was only a fraction of them."

"We still won, moron," she snapped, pointing her finger at him. "You made all this fuss about humans and having enough manpower and _now_ you decide it's not good enough? After we've already dragged everyone out here?"

"There still aren't enough of us, and the humans might help, but they are so damned fragile that we can't rely totally on them at this point," he groaned, rubbing his temples in annoyance. "We are going to have to get involved with the inuyokai's politics, whether we like it or not! It may as well be on our terms."

"Fine, if you want to sell your soul to the enemy, I'm not going to hold you back, but don't say I never warned you."

"Hiro wanted me to use my connections with them, Satsuki," he pointed out, watching her stiffen up. "That's why she put me in this position. It would be disrespectful and foolish of me to come this far only to ignore the rest of her plan."

"Keep her name out of your mouth, boy, if you're going to say things like that," Satsuki growled, her eyes narrowing. "I knew her longer and far, far better than you and she _never_ would have turned us all over to _them…_ "

"That's not what she told me-"

" _How dare you."_

Satsuki was breathing heavily, her pupils contracted into slits. Togao was quiet, knowing that it would be better to wait out her fury than try to argue now.

"You are our leader. We will follow you if you decide to do this, even if we disagree with your choices. But if you lead us astray, or betray what we stand for at our core, I will _personally have your head_."

Togao watched her go, felt the tension drain from the tent as she did. When she was gone he slumped, suddenly exhausted.

He couldn't decide on his own.

Satsuki was right, obviously, in many ways. He did not trust the Tsukinos and had a deep, gut feeling that they were going to give him an immense amount of trouble. The mother and daughter both seemed slippery somehow, polite at one moment and then frighteningly serious the next, unpredictable. He couldn't quite pin them down.

Still, he stood by what he'd said; Hiro _had_ wanted him to use his connections, not abandon them. It was why he'd been chosen over anyone else to lead and guide her mercenaries, and why he'd been able to grow it into an army.

He pondered over it until his brain ached and he wanted to throw up, no solution ever coming to him, no guiding hand reaching down and showing him the right path. When he fell asleep that night, worn down by the stress of it all, the last thing on his mind was that perhaps Hiro had made a mistake in choosing him after all, and that his only true destiny was indecision and failure.

He dreamt of his mother and father, of their warmth and patience. Somehow it seemed so strange to him that either were capable of violence - but he knew that they had been. He had heard of his mother's clan, and seen his father kill firsthand. The images in his brain morphed into his little sister, of her laughing and dancing around the back hallways and open courtyard, her white hair whirling around her like frothy waves on a beach.

She'd been so young.

A voice whispered inside of his head that he should have just _listened_ to her, that her wisdom had far surpassed him despite her age, that if only he had just chosen something definitely she would still be alive. He tried not to think about it in his waking hours, because it hurt, and because it was self indulgent to become obsessed with his own pain when the people around him had pains to be cared for too. But when he slept he couldn't forget her, her sweet face and bright eyes, how much he had loved her.

Uzume had warned him, and he hadn't listened-

Togao's eyes flew open, his body bolting upright in the darkness, cold sweat rolling down his spine. In a hurry he stood and dressed himself, slipping a sword through his obi and throwing his heavy fur pelt over his shoulders. He hastily sat, writing a note quickly in the darkness.

He was going to the north country. He would be back in two days. There was someone he had to see.

o0o

His homelands had changed very little since he saw them last.

The great, stretching mountains welcomed him with their clean, crisp scent, the air thinner and clearer. By memory he sought out the cave he'd been to many, many years ago, relieved to discover that the pack of wild dogs still roamed there and led him to the correct place.

Upon walking through the entrance he felt anxiety roll over him in a wave, so strong he almost turned around and left. The last time he had been here, he'd made a fool of himself and disgraced both him, and his sister. He didn't know if the inugami was still alive, or if she'd be happy to see him - but so much hung in the balance, so he pressed onward.

Uzume had not died. She was in the same place she'd been before, poking at a small fire and then turning to a rabbit that she was about to start skinning.

"I knew you'd return eventually, Togao."

He shifted nervously, tapping his toe awkwardly against the ground. "My lady-"

"You need help, don't you?"

"I… need to apologize," he sighed, as she stood and turned to face him. "I have behaved very foolishly."

"You have. But it is in the past," she replied, cloudy blue eyes fixed towards him. "You have had enough bad news to last you a lifetime, and there's still more to come."

"Ah," he breathed, the anxiety swelling again.

"Come, sit. I have much to tell you."

He walked over to her where she stood by the fire, and they both arranged themselves so that they were seated and comfortable on the rough straw mats that lines the cave floor. She was silent for a while, preparing her tea, offering him some, which he took gratefully. Finally she spoke up.

"I understand that your sister and father are no longer with the living," she sighed, tapping her fingers against the cup. "I am sorry."

Togao made a low noise in his throat. "There was so much I should have done, and didn't."

"And so much your kin shouldn't have done, but did," she echoed, her head lowering. "It pains me to tell you that I know of your mother's death as well. I do believe she passed easily from this world and into the next."

He swallowed down the bitterness that rose in his throat - still he knew that it was coming, and that he would not be there for it when it did. He had not choice but to internalize it, to accept it, and hope that her spirit would find peace. There was another moment of silence, Uzume allowing him to come to terms with it, before she decided it was time to move onward.

"Now, explain to me why you have come."

He went over the details of the Tsukino meeting, his conflict, the trouble between Satsuki's advice and Hiro's wishes. Uzume sat through it all, listening carefully as he talked, and at last she cracked a smile.

"Ah, I think the answer is already inside of you."

"I don't feel sure," he replied, sighing. "There are too many lives depending on me for me to get this wrong."

"A problem you will face many times over in your life," she said. "I can't just tell you what the correct choice is, although even I cannot say if there is one that is totally right or totally wrong. It's simply a matter of different pathways."

"That's not helpful!"

"Well, what's the conflict? You don't want to betray Satsuki or ignore your doubts, but at the same time Hiro left you instructions that you feel you must follow, and you desperately long for the chance to have a victory on this scale. Which is more important to you?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked you."

Uzume laughed, reaching forward and patting his knee.

"Listen to yourself, Togao. After so many years and so many battles you still sound to me like the young man you were when I first met you. You can't do anything unless you trust yourself."

"It's… hard to trust myself. I've gotten it wrong before and it cost me all that I had."

"But you picked yourself out from the ashes and went on living, didn't you? You love your little army like a family, and it would be a frightening thing to lose them, but losses will happen whatever you do," she explained. "Who are you, really? If you can't answer that question, you will never be able to decide what the right choice is."

He stared at the cup in his hands, watching the little curls of steam rising from the surface. He'd never given much thought to who he was, only where he was supposed to go - and he found the more he considered himself the more clear it all became.

Togao had been born the bastard child of a inuyokai noblewoman and an outcast inugami, had gone out into the world and risen in rank, and had even secured the fear and attention of the two most powerful inuyokai clans in all of Japan. He was part of a greater force, some unseen plot by the very gods that he had disobeyed.

"I'm called the Inu no Taisho," he finally said, quietly. "I'm a commander."

"Dog General," she repeated, a slow grin spreading across her face. "What does that mean to you?"

"It means that Hiro knew what in the hell she was doing," he laughed, finally feeling a little relief from the stress that had plagued him for the last few days. "Satsuki will be furious with me."

"There are always going to be people who disagree with your actions. Satsuki isn't wrong for distrusting the Tsukino, nor is she wrong for feeling anger and betrayal," Uzume explained. "But Hiro… she was a little like me. Not a seer, exactly, but she had a strong sense of intuition. I would not tell you to trust her final requests unless I believed them to be wise."

"I see."

"Like I said, the answer was already inside of you," she said, shrugging. "Next time you will be able to find it yourself."

"And what about the Tsukino," he asked, hoping for one last hint. "How do I handle them?"

Uzume laughed, long and loud, before she was able to reign it and and tell him what she thought on the issue.

"Get used to them! Don't trust them as far as you can throw them, but for your own good? Keep them close."

"Strange," he muttered, finishing his tea. "Very strange."

"You'll thank me for that advice," she laughed again. "Now let us catch up a bit before you go. I've missed the company."

o0o

The Inu no Taisho's promise held, and he returned to the Tsukino castle a week after their first discussion. Izanami was strangely thrilled by it, ready to see where his decision would lead. No matter what, there would be much to do and prepare for.

If he said no, they'd have to ready themselves to fight him and his army - that would be an easy enough task, given their superior strength and resources - but it would be a waste of his potential.

If he said yes… they would prepare to go to war with the Osafune clan, with his help. The prospect of finally putting their longest standing enemies in their place was delicious to her - they would savor that victory for a long time, if it did come to pass. But so much relied on the Inu no Taisho's choices, and Izanami knew better than to get over eager or excited about someone who was still such a wild card. She readied herself for anything he might have to say.

On the day that he returned to them, Rei had given the palace guards strict instructions to only allow him to leave if she gave the go ahead - her determination to either win him over or fight him to the death was driven by the knowledge she had procured since their last meeting. The council had gone over it all with her, at her insistence, after scrounging up all possible information about him.

The Lord of the Nomiya clan, Yatsuhiro, had been the first to come forward with it, since he'd been the one to bring it to their attention to begin with. The Inu no Taisho's real name was Togao, given to him by Yasuko of the Inazuma after she vanished into the mountains. He had no close, living relatives - the Inazuma were absorbed in bits and pieces by other clans during a period of extended peace. Some married into the Osafune, some into different clans in the northern mountains, and others were absorbed into families living in Tsukino territory. The bloodline was mixed, no longer pure, and the name was extinct.

"His mother, father, and sister are all dead. There were never any records of either child officially," Yatsuhiro explained to the gathered members of the council. "But we were able to track down the place where he grew up, and some of their servants still live. He left shortly after childhood."

"May the gods bless their souls," Rei said somberly, closing her eyes slowly. "But it brings us to an interesting predicament. There is little he has to lose."

"Perhaps, my lady, but I believe that he is still vulnerable to fear and misjudgment as anyone else would be," an elderly lord chimed in. "Perhaps more so… with his mentors all dead and gone, he has little guidance."

"We must still be wary, and not underestimate him," Izanami said sharply, causing the old man to bow his head in submission and respect. "He may still prove to be a danger to us, as he was to our enemies."

"An excellent point," Rei said, smoothing her elegant hands over her obi. Izanami's spine prickled with pride at her mother's compliment, straightening her back and holding her head higher. "It's almost certainly too soon to judge him as a simpleton - and from all we have been able to see he is far from vulnerable or alone. Thank you all for your time. You are dismissed."

After they departed, and the two women began to walk through the quiet back pathways to the large, central meeting hall once more, Rei spoke up.

"The Inu no Taisho is extremely dangerous, I've learned," she said, voice lowered so that only her daughter could hear her. " _He_ was the one who killed his father. The servants were quick to offer that information."

Izanami swallowed her shock. "How did it happen?"

"The inugami went mad and killed his daughter, before turning on his son," she explained. "And the boy ended his life right then and there. I would expect the same of my own child, of course, and I would certainly not fault him for having the strength of conviction to get rid of… foul connections, no matter how closely related."

"But my lady has reservations?"

"I suspect that his compassionate, idealistic behavior is only a front. He is Inazuma; their ways were brutal and their people were battle minded. They say that you could always count on an Inazuma to be the last one standing, that they would keep on fighting until they'd either been defeated by death or there was nobody else left to fight. He has found a target… I believe he will not relinquish until he is either killed himself, or he is victorious."

"Much like us," Izanami replied, understanding.

"Almost too much like us. I do not trust him," she instructed. "If he decides not to take our offer, he will be detained and killed. It's simply too risky to let him live otherwise."

"As you say, my lady." Izanami nodded, her gut twisting strangely. Already she had been duped by this man, and though her mother may not have known it she felt foolish and ashamed - he'd appeared every bit as upfront and honest as he wanted them to believe he was. This time, she resolved, she would be far more observant, more critical, more controlled. The pair of them eventually reached their destination, walking in through an arch towards the back of it and sitting down on the thin cushions laid down across their platform. Izanami adjusted her fur around her, letting it fold over her arms like a great, long snake, fluffing herself up to appear larger. She did not want to appear small or delicate for this meeting - neither did her mother. The time for political charm and negotiation had passed, now that his choice had been made, and what followed on its heels was much more immediately dangerous.

The captain of the guard, Kenta, announced the Inu no Taisho's arrival, and instead of leaving once he'd arrived he stood by the entrance and blocked it bodily behind the other inuyokai. The Inu no Taisho did not appear phased, though he'd clearly taken notice of this. In fact, he smiled, his face self-assured and confident despite the possible threat. Izanami read this as either a good sign, or a very bad one; either way, he was certainly plotting _something._

"Welcome back," Rei announced loftily, pleasantly. "It pleases me greatly to see you once more."

"And I you, Lady Rei," he replied without missing a beat. Izanami noticed now that he appeared more comfortable, and with the comfort came a certain kind of roguish attitude. He smiled brilliantly at the pair of them, his teeth glinting like ivory daggers over his bottom lip as he sat himself down and placed his open palms over his knees.

"You have considered our offer, then?"

"I have," he told her, nodding. "And I have decided that it would be mutually beneficial if I accepted."

"Ah, excellent! Then I am sure you have considered that there will be conditions?"

"Of course, my lady," he laughed, a deep, resonant sound. "And I'm sure you know that I'll have my own, but I will hear yours first."

"Wonderful. Scribe," she called to a kitsune servant that was waiting behind their platform. "Be sure to write this all down."

"Yes, my most honorable lady."

"The first is very simple: if we catch wind of any plotting or betrayal on your behalf, your head belongs to us. There will be no bargaining and no second chances."

He nodded, and though his smile barely faded, Izanami caught him swallowing heavily.

"Secondly, as you have brought to my attention before, your army may take issue with your decision. I ask that you release any of those who do, since it would not serve either of us to have insubordination. The troops that remain under your watch from that point forward would be at our disposal - but any tactical decisions, of course, would include your input."

"You run your military like you run your territory," he pointed out. "I accept that condition as well."

"Finally, I expect that on the occasion that we defeat the Osafune, you agree that those lands become the Tsukino's lands. You are not a lord, and have no need of them. If this displeases you, then you are free to remove your support now."

"Of course not," he half-snorted. "It's as I've said before. I don't want anyone's land."

"Then you have agreed to all of my terms?"

"Yes, but you haven't heard mine," he replied, flashing an even brighter grin.

"Go on."

"I only ask that when this is over, you allow me to maintain command over the troops that I have now and any new ones I've acquired by the end of this campaign - assuming they were not yours to begin with."

"Simple enough!" Rei replied happily.

"And one more thing - I ask that I be allowed to live here until the battle is finished. I want to know the people that I'm offering these services so exclusively to, and I'm sure you'd rather be able to keep a close eye on me anyway."

There was silence, and it was deafening. Rei was rarely ever shocked into silence, and a quick glance told Izanami that her mother had not prepared for such a request. Her face had lost its pleasant, aristocratic smile and had been replaced with raised brows and tight lips. She looked like she was scrutinizing him, trying to discover his angle, mentally going through what ulterior motives he might have had. After a little while the smile returned, but Izanami recognized it as being cracked by hesitation.

"That is, I'll admit, an unusual request," she said. "But I will allow it. Just remember my first rule, and no harm will come to you."

"We have a deal."

Rei stood, a cue for everyone to follow her example. She gestured towards the guards who were lined up against the opposite wall, and they lowered their weapons - the Inu no Taisho turned at the sound of metal clinking and shifting and visibly tensed, his dark, heavy brow creasing. He must have realized how near he'd been to utter disaster, because the cocky smile was gone when he faced Rei again. Perhaps it wasn't totally a front that he was a young, inexperienced idealist, because he looked truly surprised.

But then, she simply couldn't be sure. Everything about him was wrong to her, the way his speech kept on switching between polite and improper, the fact that he dressed and looked like nobility but seemed to swagger around and hold himself almost carelessly. In her consideration of him she had lingered too long, and his gaze caught hers - she was inwardly embarrassed, afraid she may have shown her confusion, but she leveled him with her iciest glare.

He swallowed heavily again, the game of chicken over when he looked away.

o0o

Togao got the impression that he was walking through hell, that all around him the fires rose and licked at his feet, his hands, his face. One wrong move with this family and his head would be cut clean from his neck without so much as a warning.

Still, he could not help the rush of triumph and joy that swept over him when Lady Rei had agreed to his slightly unorthodox request to live with them. It was simply that he was following Uzume's advice, and was keeping them close by at all times. The troops would also be close by, in the sprawling grounds just out of view of the castle itself, so he would be able to pass from place to place as he pleased. It all felt like things were coming together, and he congratulated himself as a monkey servant showed him to his quarters, where he would stay for an undetermined time.

He slipped inside and breathed deeply, looking all around him.

The Tsukino palace was massive, clean, and light. From the outside it almost appeared to be floating high above the ground, surrounded by clouds and swirls of delicate white mist - it was sentimental of him, but it reminded him a little of his childhood home in the mountains. Here, however, there were no happy screeches of laughter, no warm, comforting scents of his family, just space and air and unfamiliar yokai. It was the slightest bit unsettling to him, but he was sure that it wouldn't take long to get used to it.

He'd halfway settled into his bed chambers when he heard the heavy tread of a soldier coming down the hallway, and immediately he bolted stick straight upwards, eyes on the door. It was the guard from before who had blocked his pathway, a man who he guessed was the captain. He stopped in the doorway, tapping the butt of his spear once on the ground - Togao noticed the head of it was shaped like a crescent moon, a detail he found a little excessive - and announcing himself as Kenta.

"The Ladies Rei and Izanami would like to ask that you meet them for the evening meal," he said slowly, his voice deep and drawling. "Since you are living as a member of the household now."

"Ah," Togao said, partly dumbfounded. He had been looking forward to being away from them for the evening, to soothe the stress of the day, but he suspected that refusing the invitation would be foolish. "Tell them I'd be delighted."

"Of course," Kenta replied, raising an eyebrow. "A wise decision on your part. There will be a servant sent for you in a half hour. Please be prompt."

And then he was once again alone, and considerably more baffled. They had sent presumably their most capable guard just to ask him to dinner - Togao connected their behavior from earlier and realized that they were treating him with caution, more than he had treated them with. To them he was dangerous; a wild grin broke out over his face, another rush of delight going through his veins. It was tempered, just slightly, by the fact that he could be disposed of in a moment's notice. He'd give them a hell of a time though, if they tried.

After a while another servant appeared, this one an inuyokai and dressed in slightly finer clothes than the monkey. She bowed, her white hair falling over her shoulder and obscuring her face, barely mumbling "please come with me" as she straightened up and began to walk away. Togao caught up to her and followed her, down three large staircases and through the gleaming, fresh halls of the main section of the palace. Finally they turned, where the rooms became darker and more comfortable, personal. He was not having a public meal: if he should have been flattered, he was agitated instead, feeling unsafe and claustrophobic here.

"How lovely," Rei exclaimed, clapping her hands together as he walked in. He gave her a curt bow, enough to be polite but not gracious. "Does our guest find his accommodations acceptable?"

"Very, my lady," he said, following the servant to where she gestured for him to sit. It was at one end of the table, opposite the other three - there was a man he had not met before sitting beside Rei, but not as closely as Izanami. "It may be more space than I'm ever going to need, though."

Rei smiled cloyingly, gesturing broadly with her arms.

"What's ours is yours now, isn't it? Please eat."

Togao could hardly say no to _that_ ; he hadn't eaten in a good few days and though an inuyokai could handle going that long without food, it was still pleasant to have a full belly. The table was filled with good tasting things; the shanks of a wild boar, the tender bits of meat from the back of a fat, unworked ox, delicately removed organ meats and offal. He took a deep breath and it all seemed to smell as it should, delicious and not tainted with anything that might poison him, so he decided it might be safe to eat.

"I don't believe you have had the chance to meet my husband," Rei chimed, finally reaching and pulling a plucked, raw pheasant towards her. "Toshiyuki. Izanami's father."

"Pleased," Togao said, nodding at the man. He only nodded back, saying nothing. It was strange how still he was - his face was impassive and reserved, almost inanimate. He had not been involved with any of the political dealings thus far. Togao knew that it was a matriarchal clan, but to see such a quiet husband still surprised him a little. He said nothing about it.

"So," Rei began, leaning her upper body forward in interest. "Surely you are aware of the exciting implications of your decision to ally with us?"

"Which implications? There are many, my lady."

Izanami snorted, a delicate sound, before she took a sip of her tea.

"We must make it public knowledge!" Rei told him, apparently delighted at what she was about to reveal. "The members of our house, court, and council must know who you are to avoid offense. There's really only one way to do it."

He raised a brow, unsure of her meaning. Izanami spoke up next.

"A party," she explained, her smooth, pleasant voice also tinged with amusement. "It puts more of an impression into people's heads than a council meeting or a declaration. You'll be a guest of honor, of course."

"Oh."

"What did you expect?" she said, the gleam in her eyes teasing him. Togao felt his mouth go dry - there was something unusual about Izanami, a certain reserved cleverness, like her full potential was nowhere near discovered. Her dainty, small smile made him feel suddenly stupid.

"I hardly know what to expect," he returned, flashing his brightest smile back at her. "All that has transpired today has been… unconventional."

"Well said," Rei laughed, and busied herself with another pheasant.

It was not until after dinner that Togao, once again, realized that he was being constantly interrogated, always watched and picked apart. Rei was almost like some sort of sorceress, able to cast him into a stupor with her pretty words and deceivingly kind demeanor. Satsuki had been right; she _was_ conniving, slippery as an eel, too clever to be outdone. It was taking all of his mental power to keep up with her.

And that said nothing of the daughter. Though she had not spoken much, everything she said had a purpose; she was bewitching, a curiosity. As he lay on his futon and tried to sleep off the large meal he found her passing through his head, over and over. Her tiny, painted mouth smiling secretly, her bright gold eyes as she laughed at him…

He had fallen asleep before he had a chance to understand what his thoughts about her meant.

* * *

 _(edited as of 3/27/2018)_


End file.
